diff --git a/hooks/conf_regen/25-dovecot b/hooks/conf_regen/25-dovecot
index 6185abe0e..6421cfafa 100755
--- a/hooks/conf_regen/25-dovecot
+++ b/hooks/conf_regen/25-dovecot
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ do_post_regen() {
 
     # create vmail user
     id vmail >/dev/null 2>&1 \
-        || adduser --system --ingroup mail --uid 500 vmail --home /var/vmail --no-create-home
+        || { mkdir -p /var/vmail; adduser --system --ingroup mail --uid 500 vmail --home /var/vmail --no-create-home; }
 
     # Delete legacy home for vmail that existed in the past but was empty, poluting /home/
     [ ! -e /home/vmail ] || rmdir --ignore-fail-on-non-empty /home/vmail