diff --git a/package/base/cron/cron.conf b/package/base/cron/cron.conf
index 0ff7c15c5..b526f5b73 100644
--- a/package/base/cron/cron.conf
+++ b/package/base/cron/cron.conf
@@ -34,10 +34,13 @@ cron_inst() {
 	chmod +x $root/usr/sbin/cron.run
 	chmod +x $root/etc/cron.daily/00-updates
 	chmod +x $root/etc/cron.daily/10-checksys
+
+	# prepare crontabs dir for lusers (crontab -e)
+	mkdir -p $root/var/spool/cron/crontabs
         chmod a+rx $root/var/spool/cron
+        chmod 1730 $root/var/spool/cron/crontabs
         chgrp crontab $root/$prefix/bin/crontab $root/var/spool/cron/crontabs
         chmod u-s,g+s $root/$prefix/bin/crontab
-        chmod 1730 $root/var/spool/cron/crontabs
 }
 
 postmake="cron_inst"