diff --git a/docs/compiler-as-library.md b/docs/compiler-as-library.md
index b4336f32c0..473c0ba47a 100644
--- a/docs/compiler-as-library.md
+++ b/docs/compiler-as-library.md
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ The [`calyx` binary][calyx-crate] is published using Rust's crates.io repository
 
 1. The [`calyx-stdlib`][calyx-stdlib] package pulls in the sources of all the primitives using the Rust `include_str!` macro.
 2. The `calyx` binary defines a build script that depends on `calyx-stdlib` as a build dependency.
-3. During build time, the script loads the string representation of all the primitives files and writes them to `$OUT_DIR/primitives`. The `OUT_DIR` environment variable is defined by `cargo`.
+3. During build time, the script loads the string representation of all the primitives files and writes them to `$CALYX_PRIMITIVE_DIR/primitives`. If the variable is not set, the location defaults to `$HOME/.calyx`.
 4. If (3) succeeds, the build scripts defines the `CALYX_PRIMITIVES_LIB` environment variable which is used when compiling the `calyx` crate.
 5. During compilation, `calyx` embeds the value of this environment variable as the default argument to the `-l` flag. If the variable is not defined, the default value of the `-l` flag is `.`.
 
diff --git a/src/build.rs b/src/build.rs
index 3a916d1f66..bb283c0eaa 100644
--- a/src/build.rs
+++ b/src/build.rs
@@ -1,23 +1,80 @@
-use std::fs;
-use std::io::Result;
-use std::path;
+use std::{env, fs, io::Result, path};
 
-fn write_primitive() -> Result<path::PathBuf> {
-    // Get the OUT_DIR environment variable from Cargo.
-    let base: path::PathBuf = std::env::var("OUT_DIR").unwrap().into();
+/// Location to install the primitives library
+const PRIM_DIR: &str = "CALYX_PRIMITIVES_DIR";
+
+struct PrimState {
+    base: path::PathBuf,
+    old_prims: Option<path::PathBuf>,
+    new_prims: path::PathBuf,
+}
+
+/// Move the old primitives directory to a different location if present and create a new one.
+fn move_primitives() -> Result<PrimState> {
+    let base: path::PathBuf = match env::var_os(PRIM_DIR) {
+        Some(v) => path::PathBuf::from(v),
+        None => {
+            let mut path: path::PathBuf = env::var_os("HOME").unwrap().into();
+            path.push(".calyx");
+            path
+        }
+    };
     let mut prims = base.clone();
     prims.push("primitives");
+    let old_prims = if prims.exists() {
+        let mut old_prims = base.clone();
+        old_prims.push("old_primitives");
+        fs::rename(&prims, &old_prims)?;
+        Some(old_prims)
+    } else {
+        None
+    };
+
+    // Create the directory again
     fs::create_dir_all(&prims)?;
+    Ok(PrimState {
+        base,
+        old_prims,
+        new_prims: prims,
+    })
+}
+
+fn write_primitive(prims: &path::Path) -> Result<()> {
+    // Get the OUT_DIR environment variable from Cargo.
     // Write the compile primitives
     for (loc, src) in calyx_stdlib::KNOWN_LIBS
         .into_iter()
         .flat_map(|(_, info)| info)
         .chain(Some(calyx_stdlib::COMPILE_LIB))
     {
-        let mut path = prims.clone();
+        let mut path = prims.to_owned().clone();
         path.push(loc);
         fs::write(path, src)?;
     }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+fn create_primitives() -> Result<path::PathBuf> {
+    let PrimState {
+        base,
+        old_prims,
+        new_prims: prims,
+    } = move_primitives()?;
+    match write_primitive(prims.as_path()) {
+        Ok(_) => {
+            if let Some(old) = old_prims {
+                fs::remove_dir_all(old)?;
+            }
+        }
+        Err(e) => {
+            // Move the old primitives back
+            println!("cargo:warning=Failed to write primitives directory. Restoring old directory");
+            if let Some(old) = old_prims {
+                fs::rename(old, &prims)?;
+            }
+            return Err(e);
+        }
+    }
     Ok(base)
 }
 
@@ -25,14 +82,11 @@ fn write_primitive() -> Result<path::PathBuf> {
 fn main() {
     println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=src/build.rs");
     println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=src/cmdline.rs");
-    match write_primitive() {
+    match create_primitives() {
         Ok(p) => {
             // The build succeeded. We're going to define the CALYX_PRIMITVE_DIR environment variable
             // so that it can be used by the compiler.
-            println!(
-                "cargo:rustc-env=CALYX_PRIMITIVES_DIR={}",
-                p.to_string_lossy()
-            );
+            println!("cargo:rustc-env={PRIM_DIR}={}", p.to_string_lossy());
         }
         Err(e) => {
             println!(
@@ -40,4 +94,4 @@ fn main() {
             );
         }
     }
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/futil.rs b/src/futil.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index 7229f9ff9a..0000000000
--- a/src/futil.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-use calyx::driver;
-use calyx_utils::CalyxResult;
-
-fn main() -> CalyxResult<()> {
-    driver::run_compiler()?;
-    log::warn!("The `futil` binary is deprecated. Please use `calyx` instead.");
-    Ok(())
-}