diff --git a/ansible/roles/gitea-runner/tasks/binary_mode.yml b/ansible/roles/gitea-runner/tasks/binary_mode.yml
index ef25159..083ca38 100644
--- a/ansible/roles/gitea-runner/tasks/binary_mode.yml
+++ b/ansible/roles/gitea-runner/tasks/binary_mode.yml
@@ -5,6 +5,12 @@
 - name: Include gitea_runner download
   ansible.builtin.include_tasks: download_gitea_runner.yml
 
+- name: Ensure runner data directory exists
+  ansible.builtin.file:
+    path: "{{ gitea_runner_data_dir }}"
+    state: directory
+    mode: "0755"
+
 - name: Include config creation
   ansible.builtin.include_tasks: config.yml