diff --git a/misc/bin/koha-zebra-ctl.sh b/misc/bin/koha-zebra-ctl.sh
index cc284c30ff..5c0422a615 100755
--- a/misc/bin/koha-zebra-ctl.sh
+++ b/misc/bin/koha-zebra-ctl.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ ERRLOG=$LOGDIR/koha-zebradaemon.err
 STDOUT=$LOGDIR/koha-zebradaemon.log
 OUTPUT=$LOGDIR/koha-zebradaemon-output.log
 KOHA_CONF=__KOHA_CONF_DIR__/koha-conf.xml
+RUNDIR=__ZEBRA_RUN_DIR__
+LOCKDIR=__ZEBRA_LOCK_DIR__
 # you may need to change this depending on where zebrasrv is installed
 ZEBRASRV=/usr/bin/zebrasrv
 
@@ -15,6 +17,23 @@ test -f $ZEBRASRV || exit 0
 case "$1" in
     start)
       echo "Starting Zebra Server"
+
+      # create run and lock directories if needed;
+      # /var/run and /var/lock are completely cleared at boot
+      # on some platforms
+      if [[ ! -d $RUNDIR ]]; then
+        umask 022
+        mkdir -p $RUNDIR
+        chown $USER:$GROUP $RUNDIR
+      fi
+      if [[ ! -d $LOCKDIR ]]; then
+        umask 022
+        mkdir -p $LOCKDIR
+        mkdir -p $LOCKDIR/biblios
+        mkdir -p $LOCKDIR/authorities
+        chown -R $USER:$GROUP $LOCKDIR
+      fi
+
       daemon --name=$NAME --errlog=$ERRLOG --stdout=$STDOUT --output=$OUTPUT --verbose=1 --respawn --delay=30 --user=$USER.$GROUP -- $ZEBRASRV -f $KOHA_CONF 
       ;;
     stop)