diff --git a/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb/Directory.Build.props b/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb/Directory.Build.props
index 98cc6fa..9a1a7b9 100644
--- a/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb/Directory.Build.props
+++ b/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb/Directory.Build.props
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
     <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
     <LangVersion>latest</LangVersion>
-    <Version>0.1.0</Version>
+    <Version>0.1.1</Version>
     <ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>true</ManagePackageVersionsCentrally>
     <TreatWarningsAsErrors>true</TreatWarningsAsErrors>
     <!-- NU1510 (package-pruning advice): the Replication and Tests projects carry a
diff --git a/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb/src/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb/Internal/SqliteLocalDb.cs b/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb/src/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb/Internal/SqliteLocalDb.cs
index ffd390e..19e4080 100644
--- a/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb/src/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb/Internal/SqliteLocalDb.cs
+++ b/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb/src/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb/Internal/SqliteLocalDb.cs
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ internal sealed class SqliteLocalDb : ILocalDb, IDisposable
         _busyTimeoutMs = options.BusyTimeoutMs;
         _connectionString = new SqliteConnectionStringBuilder { DataSource = options.Path }.ToString();
 
+        EnsureDirectoryExists(options.Path);
+
         _master = new SqliteConnection(_connectionString);
         _master.Open();
         ExecuteRaw(_master, "PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL; " + PerConnectionPragmas());
@@ -219,6 +221,62 @@ internal sealed class SqliteLocalDb : ILocalDb, IDisposable
         }
     }
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Creates the directory holding the database file when it does not already exist.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// <para>
+    /// SQLite creates the database FILE on demand but never its parent DIRECTORY, and this
+    /// constructor opens the file eagerly — so a configured path under a directory that does
+    /// not exist yet was a hard startup failure ("SQLite Error 14: unable to open database
+    /// file") rather than a first-run that simply worked. Relative defaults such as
+    /// <c>./data/app.db</c> hit it routinely; a containerized consumer escapes only when a
+    /// volume mount happens to create the directory first.
+    /// </para>
+    /// <para>
+    /// Creating it here is deliberate rather than merely convenient. The objection to a
+    /// library that creates directories is that it can mask a mis-typed path by silently
+    /// starting an empty database — but SQLite ALREADY does exactly that for a mis-typed
+    /// file NAME. Refusing to create the directory therefore protects nothing; it only makes
+    /// the two halves of the same path behave inconsistently, and turns the directory half
+    /// into an opaque error.
+    /// </para>
+    /// <para>
+    /// A creation failure (permissions, read-only mount) is reported here rather than left
+    /// to surface as SQLite error 14, because the error the caller actually needs names the
+    /// directory and the reason.
+    /// </para>
+    /// </remarks>
+    private static void EnsureDirectoryExists(string path)
+    {
+        string? directory;
+        try
+        {
+            directory = Path.GetDirectoryName(Path.GetFullPath(path));
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex) when (ex is ArgumentException or NotSupportedException or PathTooLongException)
+        {
+            // An unresolvable path is not this method's error to report: opening it produces a
+            // message naming the data source, which is the better diagnostic.
+            return;
+        }
+
+        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(directory) || Directory.Exists(directory))
+            return;
+
+        try
+        {
+            Directory.CreateDirectory(directory);
+        }
+        catch (Exception ex) when (ex is IOException or UnauthorizedAccessException)
+        {
+            throw new InvalidOperationException(
+                $"LocalDb could not create the directory '{directory}' for database file '{path}'. " +
+                "SQLite creates the database file but not its parent directory; either create the " +
+                "directory out of band or point LocalDb:Path somewhere writable.", ex);
+        }
+    }
+
     private static async Task<IReadOnlyList<T>> ReadAllAsync<T>(SqliteCommand cmd, Func<SqliteDataReader, T> map, CancellationToken ct)
     {
         var results = new List<T>();
diff --git a/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb.Tests/SqliteLocalDbTests.cs b/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb.Tests/SqliteLocalDbTests.cs
index ec8a855..bea09ca 100644
--- a/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb.Tests/SqliteLocalDbTests.cs
+++ b/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb/tests/ZB.MOM.WW.LocalDb.Tests/SqliteLocalDbTests.cs
@@ -16,6 +16,60 @@ public sealed class SqliteLocalDbTests : IDisposable
 
     private SqliteLocalDb Create() => new(new LocalDbOptions { Path = _path });
 
+    [Fact]
+    public void Open_CreatesTheParentDirectory_WhenItDoesNotExist()
+    {
+        // SQLite creates the database FILE on demand but never its parent DIRECTORY, and the
+        // constructor opens the file eagerly - so before this, a path under a missing
+        // directory was a hard startup failure ("SQLite Error 14"), not a first run. Relative
+        // defaults like ./data/app.db hit it routinely.
+        var root = Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), "localdb-dir-" + Guid.NewGuid().ToString("N"));
+        var path = Path.Combine(root, "nested", "deeper", "app.db");
+
+        try
+        {
+            Assert.False(Directory.Exists(root));
+
+            using (var db = new SqliteLocalDb(new LocalDbOptions { Path = path }))
+            {
+                Assert.True(File.Exists(path));
+            }
+        }
+        finally
+        {
+            SqliteConnection.ClearAllPools();
+            if (Directory.Exists(root))
+                Directory.Delete(root, recursive: true);
+        }
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void Open_ReportsTheDirectory_WhenItCannotBeCreated()
+    {
+        // The failure that survives: an unwritable location. It must name the directory and
+        // the reason rather than surfacing as SQLite error 14, which was the whole complaint
+        // about the previous behaviour.
+        var blocker = Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), "localdb-blocker-" + Guid.NewGuid().ToString("N"));
+
+        try
+        {
+            // A FILE where the directory needs to be. Creating a directory under it fails on
+            // every platform, without needing permission manipulation that varies by OS.
+            File.WriteAllText(blocker, string.Empty);
+
+            var ex = Assert.Throws<InvalidOperationException>(
+                () => new SqliteLocalDb(new LocalDbOptions { Path = Path.Combine(blocker, "sub", "app.db") }));
+
+            Assert.Contains("could not create the directory", ex.Message);
+            Assert.NotNull(ex.InnerException);
+        }
+        finally
+        {
+            if (File.Exists(blocker))
+                File.Delete(blocker);
+        }
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public void Open_CreatesDbFile_WalMode()
     {