diff --git a/packages/slidev/node/commands/export.test.ts b/packages/slidev/node/commands/export.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3b1f96327c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/slidev/node/commands/export.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+import fs from 'node:fs/promises'
+import { tmpdir } from 'node:os'
+import { dirname, join } from 'node:path'
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { exportSlides } from './export'
+
+/**
+ * `exportSlides` writes to `--output` through several writers, and they used
+ * to disagree about whose job it was to create the parent directory:
+ * `page.pdf({ path })` creates it, `genPagePng` creates it, and everything
+ * calling `fs.writeFile` directly did not. `dist/slides.pptx` then failed
+ * with ENOENT while one-piece PDF wrote the same path happily.
+ *
+ * A real export needs a browser and a dev server, neither of which belongs in
+ * a unit test, and it never gets that far here: `importPlaywright` asks
+ * `getRoots` for the user root, which throws without an entry, so every call
+ * below rejects before anything renders. That is enough, because the
+ * directory is created first. The matcher pins each rejection to that known
+ * failure, so an error from the `mkdir` itself fails the test instead of
+ * satisfying it.
+ */
+
+const NO_ENTRY = /Cannot find roots/
+
+const tempRoots: string[] = []
+
+afterEach(async () => {
+  await Promise.all(tempRoots.splice(0).map(root => fs.rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true })))
+})
+
+async function tempRoot() {
+  const root = await fs.mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), 'slidev-export-'))
+  tempRoots.push(root)
+  return root
+}
+
+function exportInto(output: string, format: 'pdf' | 'pptx' | 'pptx-editable') {
+  return exportSlides({ output, format, slides: [], total: 0, waitUntil: undefined })
+}
+
+describe('exportSlides creates the output directory', () => {
+  it.each([
+    ['pptx', 'slides.pptx'],
+    ['pptx-editable', 'slides.pptx'],
+    ['pdf', 'slides.pdf'],
+  ] as const)('creates a missing directory for %s', async (format, filename) => {
+    const output = join(await tempRoot(), 'dist', filename)
+
+    await expect(exportInto(output, format)).rejects.toThrow(NO_ENTRY)
+    await expect(fs.stat(dirname(output))).resolves.toBeTruthy()
+  })
+
+  it('creates nested directories', async () => {
+    const output = join(await tempRoot(), 'a', 'b', 'c', 'slides.pptx')
+
+    await expect(exportInto(output, 'pptx')).rejects.toThrow(NO_ENTRY)
+    await expect(fs.stat(dirname(output))).resolves.toBeTruthy()
+  })
+
+  it('accepts an output with no directory part', async () => {
+    // Resolves to the working directory, which exists, so the rejection has
+    // to come from the missing entry rather than from the `mkdir`.
+    await expect(exportInto('slides.pptx', 'pptx')).rejects.toThrow(NO_ENTRY)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/packages/slidev/node/commands/export.ts b/packages/slidev/node/commands/export.ts
index 9c3bf061bb..450d7fffa0 100644
--- a/packages/slidev/node/commands/export.ts
+++ b/packages/slidev/node/commands/export.ts
@@ -191,6 +191,12 @@ export async function exportSlides({
 }: ExportOptions) {
   const pages: number[] = parseRangeString(total, range)
 
+  // Writers disagree about who creates the parent directory of `--output`, so
+  // the ones calling `fs.writeFile` directly failed with ENOENT on a path like
+  // `dist/slides.pptx`. Create it here, before the browser starts. `png` gets
+  // only the parent: its `--output` is a directory that `genPagePng` creates.
+  await fs.mkdir(dirname(path.resolve(output)), { recursive: true })
+
   const { chromium } = await importPlaywright()
   const browser = await chromium.launch({
     executablePath,