diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils/path.py b/lib/ansible/utils/path.py
index dc1155183a..3d9b35f970 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils/path.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils/path.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ from errno import EEXIST
 from ansible.errors import AnsibleError
 from ansible.utils.unicode import to_bytes, to_str
 
-__all__ = ['unfrackpath']
+__all__ = ['unfrackpath', 'makedirs_safe']
 
 def unfrackpath(path):
     '''
@@ -35,12 +35,14 @@ def unfrackpath(path):
 
 def makedirs_safe(path, mode=None):
     '''Safe way to create dirs in muliprocess/thread environments'''
-    if not os.path.exists(to_bytes(path, errors='strict')):
+
+    rpath = unfrackpath(path)
+    if not os.path.exists(to_bytes(rpath, errors='strict')):
         try:
             if mode:
-                os.makedirs(path, mode)
+                os.makedirs(rpath, mode)
             else:
-                os.makedirs(path)
+                os.makedirs(rpath)
         except OSError as e:
             if e.errno != EEXIST:
-                raise AnsibleError("Unable to create local directories(%s): %s" % (path, to_str(e)))
+                raise AnsibleError("Unable to create local directories(%s): %s" % (rpath, to_str(e)))