diff --git a/providers/virtualenv.rb b/providers/virtualenv.rb
index 5a4d3dd..d8c61b1 100644
--- a/providers/virtualenv.rb
+++ b/providers/virtualenv.rb
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ def whyrun_supported?
     directory new_resource.path do
       user new_resource.owner if new_resource.owner
       group new_resource.group if new_resource.group
+      recursive true
     end
     Chef::Log.info("Creating virtualenv #{new_resource} at #{new_resource.path}")
     interpreter = new_resource.interpreter ? " --python=#{new_resource.interpreter}" : ""