diff --git a/packages/backend/src/managers/catalogManager.spec.ts b/packages/backend/src/managers/catalogManager.spec.ts
index 4eb5aba0f..00e1f7cd6 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/managers/catalogManager.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/managers/catalogManager.spec.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ vi.mock('node:fs', () => {
       readFile: vi.fn(),
       stat: vi.fn(),
       writeFile: vi.fn(),
+      mkdir: vi.fn(),
     },
   };
 });
@@ -183,6 +184,7 @@ test('expect to call writeFile in addLocalModelsToCatalog with catalog updated',
     },
   ]);
 
+  expect(promises.mkdir).toHaveBeenCalled();
   expect(writeFileMock).toBeCalledWith('path', JSON.stringify(updatedCatalog, undefined, 2), 'utf-8');
 });
 
diff --git a/packages/backend/src/managers/catalogManager.ts b/packages/backend/src/managers/catalogManager.ts
index 2ac211b74..c0bc030bc 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/managers/catalogManager.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/managers/catalogManager.ts
@@ -225,6 +225,9 @@ export class CatalogManager extends Publisher<ApplicationCatalog> implements Dis
     // Add all our models infos to the user's models catalog
     content.models.push(...models);
 
+    // ensure parent directory exists
+    await promises.mkdir(path.dirname(userCatalogPath), { recursive: true });
+
     // overwrite the existing catalog
     return promises.writeFile(userCatalogPath, JSON.stringify(content, undefined, 2), 'utf-8');
   }