diff --git a/internal/restorer/restorer.go b/internal/restorer/restorer.go
index 641b05877..160497110 100644
--- a/internal/restorer/restorer.go
+++ b/internal/restorer/restorer.go
@@ -197,6 +197,12 @@ func (res *Restorer) RestoreTo(ctx context.Context, dst string) error {
 		}
 	}
 
+	// make sure the target directory exists
+	err = fs.MkdirAll(dst, 0777) // umask takes care of dir permissions
+	if err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrap(err, "MkdirAll")
+	}
+
 	idx := restic.NewHardlinkIndex()
 	return res.traverseTree(ctx, dst, string(filepath.Separator), *res.sn.Tree, treeVisitor{
 		enterDir: func(node *restic.Node, target, location string) error {
diff --git a/internal/restorer/restorer_test.go b/internal/restorer/restorer_test.go
index 4fde75edd..b57b6f409 100644
--- a/internal/restorer/restorer_test.go
+++ b/internal/restorer/restorer_test.go
@@ -202,6 +202,16 @@ func TestRestorer(t *testing.T) {
 				"dir/file": "file in dir",
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			Snapshot: Snapshot{
+				Nodes: map[string]Node{
+					"topfile": File{"top-level file"},
+				},
+			},
+			Files: map[string]string{
+				"topfile": "top-level file",
+			},
+		},
 
 		// test cases with invalid/constructed names
 		{
@@ -273,6 +283,9 @@ func TestRestorer(t *testing.T) {
 			tempdir, cleanup := rtest.TempDir(t)
 			defer cleanup()
 
+			// make sure we're creating a new subdir of the tempdir
+			tempdir = filepath.Join(tempdir, "target")
+
 			res.SelectFilter = func(item, dstpath string, node *restic.Node) (selectedForRestore bool, childMayBeSelected bool) {
 				t.Logf("restore %v to %v", item, dstpath)
 				if !fs.HasPathPrefix(tempdir, dstpath) {