diff --git a/packages/backend/src/utils/JsonWatcher.spec.ts b/packages/backend/src/utils/JsonWatcher.spec.ts
index bca24e88a..f146e90b1 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/utils/JsonWatcher.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/utils/JsonWatcher.spec.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  ***********************************************************************/
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, test, vi } from 'vitest';
-import { promises, existsSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { promises, existsSync, mkdirSync } from 'node:fs';
 import type { FileSystemWatcher } from '@podman-desktop/api';
 import { EventEmitter, fs } from '@podman-desktop/api';
 import { JsonWatcher } from './JsonWatcher';
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ vi.mock('@podman-desktop/api', () => {
 vi.mock('node:fs', () => {
   return {
     existsSync: vi.fn(),
+    mkdirSync: vi.fn(),
     promises: {
       readFile: vi.fn(),
     },
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@ test('should provide default value', async () => {
   await vi.waitFor(() => {
     expect(listener).toHaveBeenCalledWith('dummyDefaultvalue');
   });
+  expect(mkdirSync).toHaveBeenCalled();
   expect(existsSync).toHaveBeenCalledWith('dummyPath');
   expect(promises.readFile).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 });
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/utils/JsonWatcher.ts b/packages/backend/src/utils/JsonWatcher.ts
index 95dacbcf8..019086658 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/utils/JsonWatcher.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/utils/JsonWatcher.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  ***********************************************************************/
 import { type Disposable, type FileSystemWatcher, fs, EventEmitter, type Event } from '@podman-desktop/api';
-import { promises, existsSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { promises, existsSync, mkdirSync } from 'node:fs';
+import path from 'node:path';
 
 export class JsonWatcher<T> implements Disposable {
   #fileSystemWatcher: FileSystemWatcher | undefined;
@@ -31,6 +32,11 @@ export class JsonWatcher<T> implements Disposable {
 
   init(): void {
     try {
+      // we create the parent directory of the watched content
+      // if the parent directory does not exists, the watcher is not initialized properly
+      mkdirSync(path.dirname(this.path), { recursive: true });
+
+      // create file system watcher
       this.#fileSystemWatcher = fs.createFileSystemWatcher(this.path);
       // Setup listeners
       this.#fileSystemWatcher.onDidChange(this.onDidChange.bind(this));