diff --git a/bin/steps/pylibmc b/bin/steps/pylibmc
index a2ae93221f267d8cb750e72b47393ccd87cbec49..0ba6b056d460c8649f0bfe9e7b7baf1e9412221d 100755
--- a/bin/steps/pylibmc
+++ b/bin/steps/pylibmc
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ if (pip-grep -s requirements.txt pylibmc) then
     export LIBMEMCACHED=$(pwd)/vendor
   else
     echo "-----> Noticed pylibmc. Bootstrapping libmemcached."
+    mkdir -p .heroku/vendor
     # Download and extract libmemcached into target vendor directory.
     curl $VENDORED_MEMCACHED -s | tar zxv -C .heroku/vendor
     export LIBMEMCACHED=$(pwd)/vendor