diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index fc077213d..94d32e956 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ release:
   stage: build
   script:
   - "mvn -e package -DskipTests"
+  - "mkdir target/release"
   - "ls target"
   - "tar -C target/release -xzvf target/kickc-release.tgz"
   - "mv target/release/kickc/jar/kickc-release.jar target/release/kickc/jar/kickc-${CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME}.jar"