diff --git a/src/lxc/lxc_driver.c b/src/lxc/lxc_driver.c
index 245000d963076a0649b65dca165ec5a752625adc..8dfa686eb4e59ae0a6884c7cd4e7eee5d6bd4e5d 100644
--- a/src/lxc/lxc_driver.c
+++ b/src/lxc/lxc_driver.c
@@ -1648,6 +1648,13 @@ static int lxcStateInitialize(bool privileged,
     if (!(caps = virLXCDriverGetCapabilities(lxc_driver, false)))
         goto cleanup;
 
+    if (virFileMakePath(cfg->stateDir) < 0) {
+        virReportSystemError(errno,
+                             _("Failed to mkdir %s"),
+                             cfg->stateDir);
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
     /* Get all the running persistent or transient configs first */
     if (virDomainObjListLoadAllConfigs(lxc_driver->domains,
                                        cfg->stateDir,