diff --git a/contrib/devtools/build_autotools.sh b/contrib/devtools/build_autotools.sh
--- a/contrib/devtools/build_autotools.sh
+++ b/contrib/devtools/build_autotools.sh
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 # Generate necessary autoconf files
 cd ${TOPLEVEL}
 ./autogen.sh
+mkdir -p "${BUILD_DIR}"
 cd ${BUILD_DIR}
 
 rm -f build.status test_bitcoin.xml
diff --git a/contrib/devtools/build_cmake.sh b/contrib/devtools/build_cmake.sh
--- a/contrib/devtools/build_cmake.sh
+++ b/contrib/devtools/build_cmake.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 # Default to nothing
 : "${CMAKE_FLAGS:=}"
 
+mkdir -p "${BUILD_DIR}"
 cd ${BUILD_DIR}
 git clean -xffd