diff --git a/package/network/services/dnsmasq/files/dnsmasq.init b/package/network/services/dnsmasq/files/dnsmasq.init
index cce7558fc9..5b4de32181 100644
--- a/package/network/services/dnsmasq/files/dnsmasq.init
+++ b/package/network/services/dnsmasq/files/dnsmasq.init
@@ -581,7 +581,7 @@ dnsmasq_start()
 	append_bool "$cfg" boguspriv "--bogus-priv"
 	append_bool "$cfg" expandhosts "--expand-hosts"
 	config_get tftp_root "$cfg" "tftp_root"
-	[ -d "$tftp_root" ] && append_bool "$cfg" enable_tftp "--enable-tftp"
+	[ -n "$tftp_root" ] && mkdir -p "$tftp_root" && append_bool "$cfg" enable_tftp "--enable-tftp"
 	append_bool "$cfg" tftp_no_fail "--tftp-no-fail"
 	append_bool "$cfg" nonwildcard "--bind-dynamic"
 	append_bool "$cfg" fqdn "--dhcp-fqdn"