diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/EmptyDirTask.groovy b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/EmptyDirTask.groovy
deleted file mode 100644
index 12971b7d701..00000000000
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/EmptyDirTask.groovy
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,49 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Licensed to Elasticsearch under one or more contributor
- * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
- * this work for additional information regarding copyright
- * ownership. Elasticsearch licenses this file to you under
- * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
- * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
- * You may obtain a copy of the License at
- *
- *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
- *
- * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
- * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
- * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
- * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
- * specific language governing permissions and limitations
- * under the License.
- */
-package org.elasticsearch.gradle
-
-import org.gradle.api.DefaultTask
-import org.gradle.api.tasks.Input
-import org.gradle.api.tasks.TaskAction
-import org.gradle.internal.nativeintegration.filesystem.Chmod
-
-import javax.inject.Inject
-
-/**
- * Creates an empty directory.
- */
-class EmptyDirTask extends DefaultTask {
-  @Input
-  Object dir
-
-  @Input
-  int dirMode = 0755
-
-  @TaskAction
-  void create() {
-    dir = dir as File
-    dir.mkdirs()
-    getChmod().chmod(dir, dirMode)
-  }
-
-  @Inject
-  Chmod getChmod() {
-    throw new UnsupportedOperationException()
-  }
-}
diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/EmptyDirTask.java b/buildSrc/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/EmptyDirTask.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ec9b774767c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/EmptyDirTask.java
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to Elasticsearch under one or more contributor
+ * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright
+ * ownership. Elasticsearch licenses this file to you under
+ * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+ * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.elasticsearch.gradle;
+
+import java.io.File;
+
+import javax.inject.Inject;
+
+import org.gradle.api.DefaultTask;
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.Input;
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.TaskAction;
+import org.gradle.internal.nativeintegration.filesystem.Chmod;
+
+/**
+ * Creates an empty directory.
+ */
+public class EmptyDirTask extends DefaultTask {
+
+    private File dir;
+    private int dirMode = 0755;
+
+    /**
+     * Creates an empty directory with the configured permissions.
+     */
+    @TaskAction
+    public void create() {
+        dir.mkdirs();
+        getChmod().chmod(dir, dirMode);
+    }
+
+    @Inject
+    public Chmod getChmod() {
+        throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
+    }
+
+    @Input
+    public File getDir() {
+        return dir;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param dir The directory to create
+     */
+    public void setDir(File dir) {
+        this.dir = dir;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param dir The path of the directory to create. Takes a String and coerces it to a file.
+     */
+    public void setDir(String dir) {
+        this.dir = getProject().file(dir);
+    }
+
+    @Input
+    public int getDirMode() {
+        return dirMode;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param dirMode The permissions to apply to the new directory
+     */
+    public void setDirMode(int dirMode) {
+        this.dirMode = dirMode;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/buildSrc/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/EmptyDirTaskTests.java b/buildSrc/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/EmptyDirTaskTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9cb49e8efd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/buildSrc/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/EmptyDirTaskTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to Elasticsearch under one or more contributor
+ * license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright
+ * ownership. Elasticsearch licenses this file to you under
+ * the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+ * not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+package org.elasticsearch.gradle;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.elasticsearch.gradle.test.GradleUnitTestCase;
+import org.gradle.api.Project;
+import org.gradle.testfixtures.ProjectBuilder;
+
+public class EmptyDirTaskTests extends GradleUnitTestCase {
+
+    public void testCreateEmptyDir() throws Exception {
+        Project project = ProjectBuilder.builder().build();
+        EmptyDirTask emptyDirTask = project.getTasks().create("emptyDirTask", EmptyDirTask.class);
+        assertEquals(0755, emptyDirTask.getDirMode());
+
+        // generate a new temporary folder and make sure it does not exists
+        File newEmptyFolder = getNewNonExistingTempFolderFile(project);
+
+        emptyDirTask.setDir(newEmptyFolder);
+        emptyDirTask.create();
+
+        assertTrue(newEmptyFolder.exists());
+        assertTrue(newEmptyFolder.isDirectory());
+        assertTrue(newEmptyFolder.canExecute());
+        assertTrue(newEmptyFolder.canRead());
+        assertTrue(newEmptyFolder.canWrite());
+
+        // cleanup
+        newEmptyFolder.delete();
+    }
+
+    public void testCreateEmptyDirNoPermissions() throws Exception {
+        Project project = ProjectBuilder.builder().build();
+        EmptyDirTask emptyDirTask = project.getTasks().create("emptyDirTask", EmptyDirTask.class);
+        emptyDirTask.setDirMode(0000);
+
+        // generate a new temporary folder and make sure it does not exists
+        File newEmptyFolder = getNewNonExistingTempFolderFile(project);
+
+        emptyDirTask.setDir(newEmptyFolder);
+        emptyDirTask.create();
+
+        assertTrue(newEmptyFolder.exists());
+        assertTrue(newEmptyFolder.isDirectory());
+        assertFalse(newEmptyFolder.canExecute());
+        assertFalse(newEmptyFolder.canRead());
+        assertFalse(newEmptyFolder.canWrite());
+
+        // cleanup
+        newEmptyFolder.delete();
+    }
+
+    private File getNewNonExistingTempFolderFile(Project project) throws IOException {
+        File newEmptyFolder = new File(project.getBuildDir(), "empty-dir");
+        assertFalse(newEmptyFolder.exists());
+        return newEmptyFolder;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/distribution/archives/build.gradle b/distribution/archives/build.gradle
index 14a7e566587..ad4c77aaa5e 100644
--- a/distribution/archives/build.gradle
+++ b/distribution/archives/build.gradle
@@ -36,13 +36,13 @@ apply plugin: 'base'
 // parent to copy to the root of the distribution
 ext.logsDir = new File(buildDir, 'logs-hack/logs')
 task createLogsDir(type: EmptyDirTask) {
-  dir "${logsDir}"
-  dirMode 0755
+  dir = "${logsDir}"
+  dirMode = 0755
 }
 ext.pluginsDir= new File(buildDir, 'plugins-hack/plugins')
 task createPluginsDir(type: EmptyDirTask) {
-  dir "${pluginsDir}"
-  dirMode 0755
+  dir = "${pluginsDir}"
+  dirMode = 0755
 }
 
 CopySpec archiveFiles(CopySpec modulesFiles, String distributionType, String platform, boolean oss, boolean jdk) {