diff --git a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Proxy/ProxyException.php b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Proxy/ProxyException.php
index 892dbebbb..29462780d 100644
--- a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Proxy/ProxyException.php
+++ b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Proxy/ProxyException.php
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ class ProxyException extends \Doctrine\ORM\ORMException {
         return new self("You must configure a proxy directory. See docs for details");
     }
 
+    public static function proxyDirectoryNotWritable() {
+        return new self("Your proxy directory must be writable.");
+    }
+
     public static function proxyNamespaceRequired() {
         return new self("You must configure a proxy namespace. See docs for details");
     }
diff --git a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Proxy/ProxyFactory.php b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Proxy/ProxyFactory.php
index 958a0c7e6..75781eaeb 100644
--- a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Proxy/ProxyFactory.php
+++ b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Proxy/ProxyFactory.php
@@ -172,6 +172,16 @@ class ProxyFactory
 
         $file = str_replace($placeholders, $replacements, $file);
 
+        $parentDirectory = dirname($fileName);
+
+        if ( ! is_dir($parentDirectory)) {
+            if (false === @mkdir($parentDirectory, 0775, true)) {
+                throw ProxyException::proxyDirectoryNotWritable();
+            }
+        } else if ( ! is_writable($parentDirectory)) {
+            throw ProxyException::proxyDirectoryNotWritable();
+        }
+
         file_put_contents($fileName, $file, LOCK_EX);
     }