diff --git a/conf/init/certs_install.sh b/conf/init/certs_install.sh
index 438d9c669..2ae929ac0 100755
--- a/conf/init/certs_install.sh
+++ b/conf/init/certs_install.sh
@@ -9,9 +9,11 @@ fi
 
 # Add extra trusted certificates (as a directory)
 if [ -d /conf/stack/extra_ca_certs ]; then
-  echo "Installing extra certificates found in /conf/stack/extra_ca_certs directory"
-  cp /conf/stack/extra_ca_certs/* /usr/local/share/ca-certificates/
-  cat /conf/stack/extra_ca_certs/* >> /venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/requests/cacert.pem
+  if test $(ls -A "/conf/stack/extra_ca_certs"); then
+      echo "Installing extra certificates found in /conf/stack/extra_ca_certs directory"
+      cp /conf/stack/extra_ca_certs/* /usr/local/share/ca-certificates/
+      cat /conf/stack/extra_ca_certs/* >> /venv/lib/python2.7/site-packages/requests/cacert.pem
+  fi
 fi
 
 # Add extra trusted certificates (as a file)
diff --git a/util/config/provider/fileprovider.py b/util/config/provider/fileprovider.py
index b2cd57eba..fdaf860b0 100644
--- a/util/config/provider/fileprovider.py
+++ b/util/config/provider/fileprovider.py
@@ -6,6 +6,16 @@ from util.config.provider.baseprovider import (BaseProvider, import_yaml, export
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+def _ensure_parent_dir(filepath):
+  """ Ensures that the parent directory of the given file path exists. """
+  try:
+    parentpath = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(filepath, os.pardir))
+    if not os.path.isdir(parentpath):
+      os.makedirs(parentpath)
+  except IOError as ioe:
+    raise CannotWriteConfigException(str(ioe))
+
+
 class FileConfigProvider(BaseProvider):
   """ Implementation of the config provider that reads the data from the file system. """
   def __init__(self, config_volume, yaml_filename, py_filename):
@@ -54,8 +64,13 @@ class FileConfigProvider(BaseProvider):
 
   def write_volume_file(self, filename, contents):
     filepath = os.path.join(self.config_volume, filename)
-    with open(filepath, mode='w') as f:
-      f.write(contents)
+    _ensure_parent_dir(filepath)
+
+    try:
+      with open(filepath, mode='w') as f:
+        f.write(contents)
+    except IOError as ioe:
+      raise CannotWriteConfigException(str(ioe))
 
     return filepath
 
@@ -75,6 +90,9 @@ class FileConfigProvider(BaseProvider):
 
   def save_volume_file(self, filename, flask_file):
     filepath = os.path.join(self.config_volume, filename)
+    _ensure_parent_dir(filepath)
+
+    # Write the file.
     try:
       flask_file.save(filepath)
     except IOError as ioe: