diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/xml_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/xml_module.py
index bbbd676a4d..c9d5f2356c 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/xml_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/xml_module.py
@@ -379,7 +379,7 @@ class XmlDescriptor(XModuleDescriptor):
             # Write the definition to a file
             url_path = name_to_pathname(self.url_name)
             filepath = self.__class__._format_filepath(self.category, url_path)
-            resource_fs.makedir(os.path.dirname(filepath), allow_recreate=True)
+            resource_fs.makedir(os.path.dirname(filepath), recursive=True, allow_recreate=True)
             with resource_fs.open(filepath, 'w') as file:
                 file.write(etree.tostring(xml_object, pretty_print=True, encoding='utf-8'))