diff --git a/redbot/cogs/downloader/repo_manager.py b/redbot/cogs/downloader/repo_manager.py
index 1efba8076..8aa69e4a2 100644
--- a/redbot/cogs/downloader/repo_manager.py
+++ b/redbot/cogs/downloader/repo_manager.py
@@ -646,6 +646,7 @@ class RepoManager:
 
     async def _load_repos(self, set=False) -> MutableMapping[str, Repo]:
         ret = {}
+        self.repos_folder.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
         for folder in self.repos_folder.iterdir():
             if not folder.is_dir():
                 continue