diff --git a/liboctave/operators/module.mk b/liboctave/operators/module.mk
index cba179a..0ee04fc 100644
--- a/liboctave/operators/module.mk
+++ b/liboctave/operators/module.mk
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ OP_SRCDIR = $(srcdir)/%reldir%
 
 define run-mk-ops
   rm -f $@-t $@ && \
+  mkdir -p $@-t.__DIR__ && \
   $(AWK) -f $(OP_SRCDIR)/mk-ops.awk -v build_file=$(notdir $@) $< > $@-t && \
   mv $@-t $@
 endef