diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/cleanup.rb b/Library/Homebrew/cleanup.rb
index 8e8cbbbee1..8851b30855 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/cleanup.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/cleanup.rb
@@ -194,6 +194,7 @@ module Homebrew
         cleanup_old_cache_db
         rm_ds_store
         prune_prefix_symlinks_and_directories
+        HOMEBREW_CACHE.mkpath
         FileUtils.touch PERIODIC_CLEAN_FILE
       else
         args.each do |arg|