diff --git a/internal/cmdrender/cmd.go b/internal/cmdrender/cmd.go
index 1ac0c52491..d7badf4085 100644
--- a/internal/cmdrender/cmd.go
+++ b/internal/cmdrender/cmd.go
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import (
 	"os"
 
 	docs "github.com/GoogleContainerTools/kpt/internal/docs/generated/fndocs"
-	"github.com/GoogleContainerTools/kpt/internal/errors"
 	"github.com/GoogleContainerTools/kpt/internal/util/cmdutil"
 	"github.com/GoogleContainerTools/kpt/internal/util/pkgutil"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
@@ -79,11 +78,9 @@ func (r *Runner) preRunE(c *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		r.pkgPath = args[0]
 	}
 	if r.resultsDirPath != "" {
-		if _, err := os.Stat(r.resultsDirPath); err != nil {
-			if errors.Is(err, os.ErrNotExist) {
-				return fmt.Errorf("results-dir %q must exist", r.resultsDirPath)
-			}
-			return fmt.Errorf("results-dir %q check failed: %w", r.resultsDirPath, err)
+		err := os.MkdirAll(r.resultsDirPath, 0755)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("cannot read or create results dir %q: %w", r.resultsDirPath, err)
 		}
 	}
 	return cmdutil.ValidateImagePullPolicyValue(r.imagePullPolicy)
diff --git a/internal/docs/generated/fndocs/docs.go b/internal/docs/generated/fndocs/docs.go
index 2f627444b2..5ad2d9156f 100644
--- a/internal/docs/generated/fndocs/docs.go
+++ b/internal/docs/generated/fndocs/docs.go
@@ -110,8 +110,8 @@ Flags:
     3. OUT_DIR_PATH: output resources are written to provided directory, the directory is created if it doesn't already exist.
   
   --results-dir:
-    Path to a directory to write structured results. Directory must exist.
-    Structured results emitted by the functions are aggregated and saved
+    Path to a directory to write structured results. Directory will be created if
+    it doesn't exist. Structured results emitted by the functions are aggregated and saved
     to ` + "`" + `results.yaml` + "`" + ` file in the specified directory.
     If not specified, no result files are written to the local filesystem.
 `
@@ -227,8 +227,8 @@ Flags:
     3. OUT_DIR_PATH: output resources are written to provided directory, the directory is created if it doesn't already exist.
   
   --results-dir:
-    Path to a directory to write structured results. Directory must exist.
-    Structured results emitted by the functions are aggregated and saved
+    Path to a directory to write structured results. Directory will be created if
+    it doesn't exist. Structured results emitted by the functions are aggregated and saved
     to ` + "`" + `results.yaml` + "`" + ` file in the specified directory.
     If not specified, no result files are written to the local filesystem.
 `
diff --git a/pkg/test/runner/runner.go b/pkg/test/runner/runner.go
index 8082290c03..0ee1ccb4b8 100644
--- a/pkg/test/runner/runner.go
+++ b/pkg/test/runner/runner.go
@@ -141,12 +141,7 @@ func (r *Runner) runFnEval() error {
 	var resultsDir, destDir string
 
 	if r.IsFnResultExpected() {
-		// create result dir
 		resultsDir = filepath.Join(tmpDir, "results")
-		err = os.Mkdir(resultsDir, 0755)
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("failed to create results dir %s: %w", resultsDir, err)
-		}
 	}
 
 	if r.IsOutOfPlace() {
@@ -281,12 +276,7 @@ func (r *Runner) runFnRender() error {
 	var resultsDir, destDir string
 
 	if r.IsFnResultExpected() {
-		// create result dir
 		resultsDir = filepath.Join(tmpDir, "results")
-		err = os.Mkdir(resultsDir, 0755)
-		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("failed to create results dir %s: %w", resultsDir, err)
-		}
 	}
 
 	if r.IsOutOfPlace() {
diff --git a/site/reference/cli/fn/eval/README.md b/site/reference/cli/fn/eval/README.md
index fc6ad36e28..c08656dfc2 100644
--- a/site/reference/cli/fn/eval/README.md
+++ b/site/reference/cli/fn/eval/README.md
@@ -114,8 +114,8 @@ fn-args:
   3. OUT_DIR_PATH: output resources are written to provided directory, the directory is created if it doesn't already exist.
 
 --results-dir:
-  Path to a directory to write structured results. Directory must exist.
-  Structured results emitted by the functions are aggregated and saved
+  Path to a directory to write structured results. Directory will be created if
+  it doesn't exist. Structured results emitted by the functions are aggregated and saved
   to `results.yaml` file in the specified directory.
   If not specified, no result files are written to the local filesystem.
 ```
diff --git a/site/reference/cli/fn/render/README.md b/site/reference/cli/fn/render/README.md
index 336cb9b3cf..3a67a514d0 100644
--- a/site/reference/cli/fn/render/README.md
+++ b/site/reference/cli/fn/render/README.md
@@ -62,8 +62,8 @@ PKG_PATH:
   3. OUT_DIR_PATH: output resources are written to provided directory, the directory is created if it doesn't already exist.
 
 --results-dir:
-  Path to a directory to write structured results. Directory must exist.
-  Structured results emitted by the functions are aggregated and saved
+  Path to a directory to write structured results. Directory will be created if
+  it doesn't exist. Structured results emitted by the functions are aggregated and saved
   to `results.yaml` file in the specified directory.
   If not specified, no result files are written to the local filesystem.
 ```
diff --git a/thirdparty/cmdconfig/commands/cmdeval/cmdeval.go b/thirdparty/cmdconfig/commands/cmdeval/cmdeval.go
index 3997d58477..838ef227fd 100644
--- a/thirdparty/cmdconfig/commands/cmdeval/cmdeval.go
+++ b/thirdparty/cmdconfig/commands/cmdeval/cmdeval.go
@@ -236,6 +236,12 @@ func (r *EvalFnRunner) preRunE(c *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	if err := cmdutil.ValidateImagePullPolicyValue(r.ImagePullPolicy); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	if r.ResultsDir != "" {
+		err := os.MkdirAll(r.ResultsDir, 0755)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("cannot read or create results dir %q: %w", r.ResultsDir, err)
+		}
+	}
 	var dataItems []string
 	if c.ArgsLenAtDash() >= 0 {
 		dataItems = append(dataItems, args[c.ArgsLenAtDash():]...)