diff --git a/src/Platform/TargetPhp/PhpBinaryPath.php b/src/Platform/TargetPhp/PhpBinaryPath.php
index 8163b253..dcd5ee9b 100644
--- a/src/Platform/TargetPhp/PhpBinaryPath.php
+++ b/src/Platform/TargetPhp/PhpBinaryPath.php
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 use function in_array;
 use function is_dir;
 use function is_executable;
+use function mkdir;
 use function preg_match;
 use function sprintf;
 use function strtolower;
@@ -105,6 +106,11 @@ public function extensionPath(): string
                 return $extensionPath;
             }
 
+            // if the path is absolute, try to create it
+            if (mkdir($extensionPath, 0777, true) && file_exists($extensionPath) && is_dir($extensionPath)) {
+                return $extensionPath;
+            }
+
             // `extension_dir` may be a relative URL on Windows, so resolve it according to the location of PHP
             $phpPath              = dirname($this->phpBinaryPath);
             $attemptExtensionPath = $phpPath . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $extensionPath;
diff --git a/test/unit/Platform/TargetPhp/PhpBinaryPathTest.php b/test/unit/Platform/TargetPhp/PhpBinaryPathTest.php
index 89be56e7..6b8d8c92 100644
--- a/test/unit/Platform/TargetPhp/PhpBinaryPathTest.php
+++ b/test/unit/Platform/TargetPhp/PhpBinaryPathTest.php
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@
 use function phpversion;
 use function sprintf;
 use function strtolower;
+use function sys_get_temp_dir;
+use function uniqid;
 
 use const DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
 use const PHP_INT_SIZE;
@@ -237,6 +239,21 @@ public function testExtensionPath(): void
         );
     }
 
+    public function testExtensionPathIsImplicitlyCreated(): void
+    {
+        $phpBinary = $this->createPartialMock(PhpBinaryPath::class, ['phpinfo']);
+
+        $configuredExtensionPath = sys_get_temp_dir() . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . uniqid('PIE_non_existent_extension_path', true);
+        self::assertDirectoryDoesNotExist($configuredExtensionPath);
+
+        $phpBinary->expects(self::once())
+            ->method('phpinfo')
+            ->willReturn(sprintf('extension_dir => %s => %s', $configuredExtensionPath, $configuredExtensionPath));
+
+        self::assertSame($configuredExtensionPath, $phpBinary->extensionPath());
+        self::assertDirectoryExists($configuredExtensionPath);
+    }
+
     /** @return array<string, array{0: string}> */
     public static function phpPathProvider(): array
     {