diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/test/test_updater.rb b/Library/Homebrew/test/test_updater.rb
index 5659f9c678..348658d250 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/test/test_updater.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/test/test_updater.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 abort if ARGV.include? "--skip-update"
 
 require 'testing_env'
+HOMEBREW_CELLAR.mkpath
 
 require 'extend/ARGV' # needs to be after test/unit to avoid conflict with OptionsParser
 ARGV.extend(HomebrewArgvExtension)