diff --git a/action.sh b/action.sh
index 981a7a4..79c203a 100755
--- a/action.sh
+++ b/action.sh
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ chmod 600 "${SSH_KEY_FILE}"
 # set up ssh remote key
 echo "${INPUT_HOST} ${INPUT_HOST_KEY}" >> ~/.ssh/known_hosts
 
+# check if directory present
+if [ ! -d "${INPUT_DIRECTORY}" ]; then
+  echo "Directory ${INPUT_DIRECTORY} does not exist, aborting deploy."
+fi
+
 # optionally: create index
 if [ "${INPUT_INDEX}" ]; then
   if [ ! -e "${INPUT_DIRECTORY}/index.html" ]; then
diff --git a/action.yaml b/action.yaml
index 127d40d..37e3d84 100644
--- a/action.yaml
+++ b/action.yaml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ inputs:
   directory:
     description: >
       Directory to deploy.
-    default: pages
+    default: public
   index:
     description: >
       Whether to create an index.html file recursively listing the directory