diff --git a/platform/lang-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/fileTypes/impl/associate/linux/LinuxMimeTypeUpdater.java b/platform/lang-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/fileTypes/impl/associate/linux/LinuxMimeTypeUpdater.java
index f8e71f6a179d..515522de69b6 100644
--- a/platform/lang-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/fileTypes/impl/associate/linux/LinuxMimeTypeUpdater.java
+++ b/platform/lang-impl/src/com/intellij/openapi/fileTypes/impl/associate/linux/LinuxMimeTypeUpdater.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import javax.xml.stream.XMLStreamWriter;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileWriter;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -71,10 +72,12 @@ class LinuxMimeTypeUpdater {
   }
 
 
-  static void createMimeFile(@NotNull List<MimeTypeDescription> mimeTypeDescriptions) throws IOException, XMLStreamException {
+  static void createMimeFile(@NotNull List<MimeTypeDescription> mimeTypeDescriptions)
+    throws IOException, XMLStreamException, OSFileAssociationException {
     XMLOutputFactory outputFactory =  XMLOutputFactory.newInstance();
-    final FileWriter fileWriter = new FileWriter(
-      System.getProperty("user.home") + File.separator + LOCAL_MIME_PACKAGES_PATH + File.separator + EXTENSIONS_FILE_NAME);
+    String mimePackagesPath = System.getProperty("user.home") + File.separator + LOCAL_MIME_PACKAGES_PATH;
+    ensureMimePackagesDirExists(mimePackagesPath);
+    final FileWriter fileWriter = new FileWriter(mimePackagesPath + File.separator + EXTENSIONS_FILE_NAME, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
     XMLStreamWriter writer = outputFactory.createXMLStreamWriter(fileWriter);
     try {
       writer.writeStartDocument("UTF-8", "1.0");
@@ -94,6 +97,15 @@ class LinuxMimeTypeUpdater {
     }
   }
 
+  private static void ensureMimePackagesDirExists(@NotNull String mimePackagesPath) throws OSFileAssociationException {
+    File packagesDir = new File(mimePackagesPath);
+    if (!packagesDir.exists()) {
+      if (!packagesDir.mkdirs()) {
+        throw new OSFileAssociationException( mimePackagesPath + " directory doesn't exist and can't be created.");
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   private static void writeDescription(@NotNull XMLStreamWriter writer, @NotNull MimeTypeDescription description)
     throws XMLStreamException {
     writer.writeCharacters("  ");