diff --git a/src/apps.js b/src/apps.js
index de70fcae5..498df4cbd 100644
--- a/src/apps.js
+++ b/src/apps.js
@@ -575,6 +575,9 @@ function mailboxNameForLocation(location, manifest) {
 
 function startAppTask(appId, args, callback) {
     const logFile = path.join(paths.LOG_DIR, appId, 'apptask.log');
+
+    if (!fs.existsSync(path.dirname(logFile))) safe.fs.mkdirSync(path.dirname(logFile)); // ensure directory
+
     let task = tasks.startTask(tasks.TASK_APP, [ appId, args ], { logFile });
     task.on('start', function (taskId) {
         appdb.update(appId, { taskId: taskId }, function (error) {