diff --git a/openbis/build/build.xml b/openbis/build/build.xml
index 148dc6a4d5811cc7bb533812408b0e208ee56fb0..5869bba8c78a3f91bc73b6a992bce71c789d2e70 100644
--- a/openbis/build/build.xml
+++ b/openbis/build/build.xml
@@ -309,7 +309,8 @@
     qualified name of the module.
   -->
   <target name="compile-gwt-module">
-    <delete>
+  	<mkdir dir="${webapp.dist}"/>
+    <delete includeEmptyDirs="true">
     	<fileset dir="${webapp.dist}" excludes="*.jar"/>
   	</delete>
     <java classpath="${ecp}:${gwt.lib}/gwt-dev.jar:${gwt.user.lib}:../common/${sources}:../openbis/${sources}:${sources}"