diff --git a/runtags b/runtags
index 45ee507e7..9c4de08a3 100755
--- a/runtags
+++ b/runtags
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ then
  exit
 fi
 
+if [ ! -f /etc/iiab/config_vars.yml ]; then
+    mkdir -p /etc/iiab
+    echo "{}" > /etc/iiab/config_vars.yml
+fi
+
 tags=$(echo $1 | tr "," "\n")
 
 if [ "$tags" == "" ]