diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b3eb314b7859639b72827615c74570e53b13e38e..7c465bc5323fb49bcde6898ba2a7926fc640aee4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ playbook.retry
 build
 dist
 .eggs
+logs
diff --git a/arkindex/project/settings.py b/arkindex/project/settings.py
index 301672791b38155787255ff229aa62c4d5fb80e1..4ac800ca5edf66fec3c017da0d7e080270ebf6b6 100644
--- a/arkindex/project/settings.py
+++ b/arkindex/project/settings.py
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@ import logging
 
 # Build paths inside the project like this: os.path.join(BASE_DIR, ...)
 BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
-
+LOGS_DIR = os.environ.get('LOGS_DIR', os.path.realpath(os.path.join(BASE_DIR, '../logs')))
+if not os.path.isdir(LOGS_DIR):
+    os.makedirs(LOGS_DIR)
 
 # Quick-start development settings - unsuitable for production
 # See https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/howto/deployment/checklist/
@@ -220,10 +222,7 @@ LOGGING = {
             'level': 'INFO',
             'class': 'logging.FileHandler',
             'formatter': 'verbose',
-            'filename': os.path.join(
-                 os.environ.get('LOGS_DIR', os.path.realpath(os.path.join(BASE_DIR, '../../logs'))),
-                 'importers.log',
-            )
+            'filename': os.path.join(LOGS_DIR, 'importers.log'),
         },
     },
     'loggers': {