diff --git a/boxctl.sh b/boxctl.sh
index 2bc1a86..70a1e66 100755
--- a/boxctl.sh
+++ b/boxctl.sh
@@ -170,14 +170,17 @@ V=$(expand_v)
 if [ -f ./files ]; then
 	msg 0 "installing $(wc -l files | awk '{print $1 " " $2}')"
 	for file in $(cat files); do
-		local _src _dest _mode _owner _group
+		local _src _dest _mode _owner _group _dir
 		read _src _owner _group _mode _dest <<EOF
 			$(echo $file | sed 's/:/ /g')
 EOF
+		_dir=$(dirname $_dest)
 		msg 1 "\t${_src} -> ${_dest}"
+		msg 2 "\t\tmkdir -p ${_dir}"
 		msg 2 "\t\tchown ${_owner}:${_group} $_dest"
 		msg 2 "\t\tchmod ${_mode} $_dest"
 
+		_ssh ${RUN_USER}@${SERVER} "mkdir -p ${_dir}"
 		_scp $_src "${RUN_USER}@${SERVER}:$_dest"
 		_ssh ${RUN_USER}@${SERVER} "/sbin/chown ${_owner}:${_group} \
 			$_dest; /bin/chmod ${_mode} $_dest"