diff --git a/rootdir/init.rc b/rootdir/init.rc
index 441f28b10..2c81dcb41 100644
--- a/rootdir/init.rc
+++ b/rootdir/init.rc
@@ -371,6 +371,8 @@ on post-fs-data
 
     # create dalvik-cache, so as to enforce our permissions
     mkdir /data/dalvik-cache 0771 root root
+    # create the A/B OTA directory, so as to enforce our permissions
+    mkdir /data/ota 0771 root root
 
     # create resource-cache and double-check the perms
     mkdir /data/resource-cache 0771 system system