diff --git a/maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/jboss/jandex/maven/JandexGoal.java b/maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/jboss/jandex/maven/JandexGoal.java
index 8d61ef9c..15b6c8b6 100644
--- a/maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/jboss/jandex/maven/JandexGoal.java
+++ b/maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/jboss/jandex/maven/JandexGoal.java
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ public void execute() throws MojoExecutionException {
         File indexFile = new File(indexDir, indexName);
         getLog().info("Saving Jandex index: " + indexFile);
         try {
-            Files.createDirectories(indexDir.toPath());
+            Files.createDirectories(indexFile.toPath().getParent());
             try (OutputStream out = new CachingOutputStream(indexFile)) {
                 IndexWriter writer = new IndexWriter(out);
                 if (indexVersion != null) {