diff --git a/src/libpostal_data b/src/libpostal_data
index c8b57262..9546d4d5 100755
--- a/src/libpostal_data
+++ b/src/libpostal_data
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ COMMAND=$1
 FILE=$2
 LIBPOSTAL_DATA_DIR=$3
 
+mkdir -p $LIBPOSTAL_DATA_DIR
+
 LIBPOSTAL_DATA_UPDATED_PATH=$LIBPOSTAL_DATA_DIR/last_updated
 LIBPOSTAL_GEO_UPDATED_PATH=$LIBPOSTAL_DATA_DIR/last_updated_geo
 LIBPOSTAL_PARSER_UPDATED_PATH=$LIBPOSTAL_DATA_DIR/last_updated_parser