diff --git a/smoove.wdl b/smoove.wdl
index 9ec463052449bac31f950518ea333d70750b6b2c..c3ab8f6a2fa8b8e848098d5ed4c9cf16e278daaf 100644
--- a/smoove.wdl
+++ b/smoove.wdl
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ task Call {
 
     command {
         set -e
-        mkdir -p "$(dirname ~{outputDir})"
+        mkdir -p ~{outputDir}
         smoove call \
         --outdir ~{outputDir} \
         --name ~{sample} \