diff --git a/qubes/tests/vm/dispvm.py b/qubes/tests/vm/dispvm.py
index 43acfbc5..1e562858 100644
--- a/qubes/tests/vm/dispvm.py
+++ b/qubes/tests/vm/dispvm.py
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ class TC_00_DispVM(qubes.tests.QubesTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(dispvm.label, self.appvm.label)
         self.assertEqual(dispvm.auto_cleanup, True)
         mock_makedirs.assert_called_once_with(
-            '/var/lib/qubes/appvms/' + dispvm.name, mode=0o775)
+            '/var/lib/qubes/appvms/' + dispvm.name, mode=0o775, exist_ok=True)
         mock_symlink.assert_called_once_with(
             '/usr/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/devices/appvm-red.png',
             '/var/lib/qubes/appvms/{}/icon.png'.format(dispvm.name))
diff --git a/qubes/vm/qubesvm.py b/qubes/vm/qubesvm.py
index 493ef397..41fa6472 100644
--- a/qubes/vm/qubesvm.py
+++ b/qubes/vm/qubesvm.py
@@ -1351,7 +1351,7 @@ class QubesVM(qubes.vm.mix.net.NetVMMixin, qubes.vm.BaseVM):
         '''
 
         self.log.info('Creating directory: {0}'.format(self.dir_path))
-        os.makedirs(self.dir_path, mode=0o775)
+        os.makedirs(self.dir_path, mode=0o775, exist_ok=True)
 
         if pool or pools:
             # pylint: disable=attribute-defined-outside-init
@@ -1418,7 +1418,7 @@ class QubesVM(qubes.vm.mix.net.NetVMMixin, qubes.vm.BaseVM):
         assert not os.path.exists(self.dir_path), msg
 
         self.log.info('Creating directory: {0}'.format(self.dir_path))
-        os.makedirs(self.dir_path, mode=0o775)
+        os.makedirs(self.dir_path, mode=0o775, exist_ok=True)
 
         if pool or pools:
             # pylint: disable=attribute-defined-outside-init