diff --git a/panda/src/loader/bamFile.cxx b/panda/src/loader/bamFile.cxx
index 10309cdbc4..e4d948f22a 100644
--- a/panda/src/loader/bamFile.cxx
+++ b/panda/src/loader/bamFile.cxx
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ open_write(const Filename &filename, bool) {
 
   loader_cat.info() << "Writing " << filename << "\n";
 
+  filename.make_dir();
   if (!_dout.open(filename)) {
     loader_cat.error() << "Unable to open " << filename << "\n";
     return false;