diff --git a/files/fail2ban.service b/files/fail2ban.service
index 5b661100..1ef7b5e6 100644
--- a/files/fail2ban.service
+++ b/files/fail2ban.service
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ PartOf=iptables.service firewalld.service
 
 [Service]
 Type=simple
+ExecStartPre=/bin/mkdir -p /var/run/fail2ban
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/fail2ban-server -xf start
 ExecStop=/usr/bin/fail2ban-client stop
 ExecReload=/usr/bin/fail2ban-client reload