diff --git a/internal/runtime/logger.go b/internal/runtime/logger.go
index 879c6bc0..b3122acc 100644
--- a/internal/runtime/logger.go
+++ b/internal/runtime/logger.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 package runtime
 
 import (
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@ func NewLogger() *Logger {
 }
 
 // Update constructs a Logger with a preddefined formatter
-func (l *Logger) Update(filename string, logLevel string, argv []string) error {
+func (l *Logger) Update(filename string, logLevel string, argv []string) {
 
 	configFromArgs := parseArgs(argv)
 
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@ func (l *Logger) Update(filename string, logLevel string, argv []string) error {
 	if !configFromArgs.version {
 		configLogFile, err := createLogFile(filename)
 		if err != nil {
-			return fmt.Errorf("error opening debug log file: %v", err)
+			argLogFileError = errors.Join(argLogFileError, err)
 		}
 		if configLogFile != nil {
 			logFiles = append(logFiles, configLogFile)
@@ -71,7 +72,7 @@ func (l *Logger) Update(filename string, logLevel string, argv []string) error {
 		if argLogFile != nil {
 			logFiles = append(logFiles, argLogFile)
 		}
-		argLogFileError = err
+		argLogFileError = errors.Join(argLogFileError, err)
 	}
 	defer func() {
 		if argLogFileError != nil {
@@ -119,8 +120,6 @@ func (l *Logger) Update(filename string, logLevel string, argv []string) error {
 		previousLogger: l.Logger,
 		logFiles:       logFiles,
 	}
-
-	return nil
 }
 
 // Reset closes the log file (if any) and resets the logger output to what it
@@ -157,11 +156,16 @@ func (l *Logger) Reset() error {
 }
 
 func createLogFile(filename string) (*os.File, error) {
-	if filename != "" && filename != os.DevNull {
-		return os.OpenFile(filename, os.O_APPEND|os.O_CREATE|os.O_WRONLY, 0644)
+	if filename == "" || filename == os.DevNull {
+		return nil, nil
 	}
-
-	return nil, nil
+	if dir := filepath.Dir(filepath.Clean(filename)); dir != "." {
+		err := os.MkdirAll(dir, 0755)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+	return os.OpenFile(filename, os.O_APPEND|os.O_CREATE|os.O_WRONLY, 0644)
 }
 
 type loggerConfig struct {
diff --git a/internal/runtime/runtime.go b/internal/runtime/runtime.go
index e659694d..1866ca0c 100644
--- a/internal/runtime/runtime.go
+++ b/internal/runtime/runtime.go
@@ -44,14 +44,11 @@ func (r rt) Run(argv []string) (rerr error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error loading config: %v", err)
 	}
-	err = r.logger.Update(
+	r.logger.Update(
 		cfg.NVIDIAContainerRuntimeConfig.DebugFilePath,
 		cfg.NVIDIAContainerRuntimeConfig.LogLevel,
 		argv,
 	)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to set up logger: %v", err)
-	}
 	defer func() {
 		if rerr != nil {
 			r.logger.Errorf("%v", rerr)