diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 0ec1a7c7ac..33280261e9 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -5722,6 +5722,7 @@ enabled getenv || echo "#define getenv(x) NULL" >> $TMPH
 
 
 mkdir -p doc
+mkdir -p tests
 echo "@c auto-generated by configure" > doc/config.texi
 
 print_config ARCH_   "$config_files" $ARCH_LIST