diff --git a/internal/bootstrap/bootstrap.go b/internal/bootstrap/bootstrap.go
index ba7da8f..2051a92 100644
--- a/internal/bootstrap/bootstrap.go
+++ b/internal/bootstrap/bootstrap.go
@@ -1621,6 +1621,7 @@ ufw status | grep -qx 'Status: active'
 `, fallbackSSHPort)
 	}
 	return fmt.Sprintf(`set -eu
+	install -d -m 0755 /usr/local/bin
 	%sinstall -m 0755 %s /usr/local/bin/nodeflow-node-agent.new
 	mv -f /usr/local/bin/nodeflow-node-agent.new /usr/local/bin/nodeflow-node-agent
 %s
diff --git a/scripts/install-node.sh b/scripts/install-node.sh
index 2c323c8..5cadecd 100755
--- a/scripts/install-node.sh
+++ b/scripts/install-node.sh
@@ -207,6 +207,7 @@ main() {
   esac
 
   if [[ -n ${NODE_AGENT_BINARY:-} ]]; then
+    install -d -m 0755 /usr/local/bin
     install -m 0755 "${NODE_AGENT_BINARY}" /usr/local/bin/nodeflow-node-agent.new
   elif [[ ${NODEFLOW_AGENT_SOURCE:-release} == build ]]; then
     command -v go >/dev/null || { echo "go is required for NODEFLOW_AGENT_SOURCE=build" >&2; exit 1; }