diff --git a/certbot-ci/certbot_integration_tests/utils/misc.py b/certbot-ci/certbot_integration_tests/utils/misc.py
index bad708a62..585bc8837 100644
--- a/certbot-ci/certbot_integration_tests/utils/misc.py
+++ b/certbot-ci/certbot_integration_tests/utils/misc.py
@@ -214,6 +214,9 @@ def get_certbot_version(workspace):
     Find the version of the certbot available in PATH.
     :return str: the certbot version
     """
+    workspace = os.environ.get('WORKSPACE', os.path.join(os.getcwd(), '.certbot_test_workspace'))
+    if not os.path.exists(workspace):
+        os.mkdir(workspace)
     output = subprocess.check_output(['certbot', '--version'],
                                      universal_newlines=True, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,
                                      cwd=workspace)