diff --git a/roles/statscache/backend/tasks/main.yml b/roles/statscache/backend/tasks/main.yml
index fa0a4892db..1b2c3d57db 100644
--- a/roles/statscache/backend/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/statscache/backend/tasks/main.yml
@@ -24,6 +24,14 @@
   - notifs
   - notifs/backend
 
+- name: ensure we have a dir to copy shared config to.
+  file: >
+    dest=/usr/share/statscache/ state=directory
+    owner=root group=root mode=0755
+  tags:
+  - notifs
+  - notifs/backend
+
 - name: copy the alembic configuration for DBAs
   template: >
     src=alembic.ini dest=/usr/share/statscache/alembic.ini