diff --git a/pkg/cidata/cidata.TEMPLATE.d/boot/25-guestagent-base.sh b/pkg/cidata/cidata.TEMPLATE.d/boot/25-guestagent-base.sh
index 182dd3ac2c0..9a458deedf0 100644
--- a/pkg/cidata/cidata.TEMPLATE.d/boot/25-guestagent-base.sh
+++ b/pkg/cidata/cidata.TEMPLATE.d/boot/25-guestagent-base.sh
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ if [ "${LIMA_CIDATA_MOUNTTYPE}" = "reverse-sshfs" ]; then
 fi
 
 # Install or update the guestagent binary
+mkdir -p "${LIMA_CIDATA_GUEST_INSTALL_PREFIX}"/bin
 install -m 755 "${LIMA_CIDATA_MNT}"/lima-guestagent "${LIMA_CIDATA_GUEST_INSTALL_PREFIX}"/bin/lima-guestagent
 
 # Launch the guestagent service