diff --git a/pica-etherpad/Dockerfile b/pica-etherpad/Dockerfile
index 17c9ed97486f4161efa382bc219a9a0802977de2..1332f168444444c4f057bcf8380d0ed33c3c09f7 100644
--- a/pica-etherpad/Dockerfile
+++ b/pica-etherpad/Dockerfile
@@ -66,6 +66,9 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
     chown -R etherpad /opt/etherpad-lite && \
     rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
+RUN mkdir /opt/etherpad-lite/deleted_pads && \
+    chown -R etherpad:etherpad /opt/etherpad-lite/deleted_pads
+
 EXPOSE 8080
 HEALTHCHECK --interval=20s --timeout=3s CMD curl --fail http://localhost:8080 || exit 1
 WORKDIR /opt/etherpad-lite/