diff --git a/cosmic-settings/src/pages/applications/startup_apps.rs b/cosmic-settings/src/pages/applications/startup_apps.rs
index a5b00f8..caad51f 100644
--- a/cosmic-settings/src/pages/applications/startup_apps.rs
+++ b/cosmic-settings/src/pages/applications/startup_apps.rs
@@ -225,6 +225,9 @@ impl Page {
 
                 let directory_to_target =
                     directories.get(0).expect("Always at least one directory");
+
+                _ = std::fs::create_dir_all(directory_to_target.as_path());
+                
                 if let Ok(exists) = std::fs::exists(directory_to_target.join(file_name.clone())) {
                     if !exists {
                         // when adding an application, we want to symlink to be more user-friendly