diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 70d22d7..6585526 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -28,15 +28,18 @@ build :
 	       (add-to-list 'custom-theme-load-path \"./\") \
 	       (load-theme 'solarized t))"
 
-test-dep-1 :
+init :
+	mkdir -p $(TEST_DIR)
+
+test-dep-1 : init
 	@cd $(TEST_DIR)                                      && \
 	$(EMACS) $(EMACS_BATCH)  -L . -L .. -l $(TEST_DEP_1) || \
 	(echo "Can't load test dependency $(TEST_DEP_1).el, run 'make downloads' to fetch it" ; exit 1)
 
-downloads :
+downloads : init
 	$(CURL) '$(TEST_DEP_1_STABLE_URL)' > $(TEST_DIR)/$(TEST_DEP_1).el
 
-downloads-latest :
+downloads-latest : init
 	$(CURL) '$(TEST_DEP_1_LATEST_URL)' > $(TEST_DIR)/$(TEST_DEP_1).el
 
 autoloads :