diff --git a/src/amdis/FileWriter.hpp b/src/amdis/FileWriter.hpp
index b14482960bf398ed65880b44628c9444bb8ba552..d45a086e64dcd7c8ca619adc9649c578327c55f3 100644
--- a/src/amdis/FileWriter.hpp
+++ b/src/amdis/FileWriter.hpp
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ namespace AMDiS
     /// Implements \ref FileWriterInterface::writeFiles
     void writeFiles(AdaptInfo& adaptInfo, bool force) override
     {
-      test_exit(filesystem::exists(dir_), "Output directory '{}' does not exist!",dir_);
+      test_exit(dir_ == "." || filesystem::exists(dir_), "Output directory '{}' does not exist!",dir_);
 
       if (vtkSeqWriter_)
         vtkSeqWriter_->write(adaptInfo.time(), mode_);
diff --git a/src/amdis/FileWriterInterface.hpp b/src/amdis/FileWriterInterface.hpp
index 064ad089761eab8dabe13e7f5f9b87320596c170..f8f656de0d149a930153d8cd94a3f6a1a386660d 100644
--- a/src/amdis/FileWriterInterface.hpp
+++ b/src/amdis/FileWriterInterface.hpp
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ namespace AMDiS
 
   protected:
     std::string filename_ = "solution";
-    std::string dir_ = "output";
+    std::string dir_ = ".";
     std::string name_ = "solution";
   };