diff --git a/start-app.sh b/start-app.sh
index 46c8873c..3e0a8df2 100755
--- a/start-app.sh
+++ b/start-app.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ until mkdir $LOCK_DIR > /dev/null 2>&1; do
     sleep 1
 done
 
-if [ ! -d "${VENV_DIR}" ]; then
+if [ ! -f "${VENV_DIR}"/bin/activate ]; then
+    mkdir -p "${VENV_DIR}"
     virtualenv --no-site-packages "$VENV_DIR"
 fi