diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 2ec37aafe..224771730 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -546,6 +546,7 @@ $(METADEPEND): $(APIXML) $(GENSCRIPT)
 attribs: $(ATTRIBFILE)
 
 $(ATTRIBFILE):
+	$(QUIET)$(MKDIR) $(dir $@)
 	for attrib in $(EXTS) ; do \
 	    echo ":$${attrib}:" ; \
 	done > $@