diff --git a/hack/lib/swagger.sh b/hack/lib/swagger.sh
index d5c6a6df485..801625a3f85 100644
--- a/hack/lib/swagger.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/swagger.sh
@@ -154,6 +154,9 @@ kube::swagger::gen_api_ref_docs() {
 
   echo "Moving api reference docs from ${output_tmp} to ${output_dir}"
 
+  # Create output_dir if doesn't exist. Prevents error on copy.
+  mkdir -p "${output_dir}"
+
   cp -af "${output_tmp}"/* "${output_dir}"
   rm -r "${output_tmp}"
 }