diff --git a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/version/DefaultPluginVersionManager.java b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/version/DefaultPluginVersionManager.java
index c639a80abb..709e5c0291 100644
--- a/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/version/DefaultPluginVersionManager.java
+++ b/maven-core/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/plugin/version/DefaultPluginVersionManager.java
@@ -582,6 +582,7 @@ public class DefaultPluginVersionManager
 
             try
             {
+                pluginRegistryFile.getParentFile().mkdirs();
                 fWriter = new FileWriter( pluginRegistryFile );
 
                 PluginRegistryXpp3Writer writer = new PluginRegistryXpp3Writer();