diff --git a/deployments/playbooks/provision.yml b/deployments/playbooks/provision.yml
index 710e126..6ab34c6 100644
--- a/deployments/playbooks/provision.yml
+++ b/deployments/playbooks/provision.yml
@@ -19,3 +19,11 @@
           - libreadline-dev
           - tzdata
         state: present
+
+    - name: Ensure app directory exists and is writeable.
+      file:
+        path: "{{ app_directory }}"
+        state: directory
+        owner: "{{ app_user }}"
+        group: "{{ app_user }}"
+        mode: 0755