diff --git a/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/checkpoint_manager.py b/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/checkpoint_manager.py
index d2e510f0..d2705826 100644
--- a/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/checkpoint_manager.py
+++ b/checkpoint/orbax/checkpoint/checkpoint_manager.py
@@ -364,7 +364,9 @@ def _create_root_directory(
   if not directory.exists() and utils.is_primary_host(
       multiprocessing_options.primary_host
   ):
-    directory.mkdir(parents=True)
+    # We need exists_ok=True because the directory might have been created due
+    # to a race condition.
+    directory.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
     logging.info('Created directory=%s', directory)
   multihost.sync_global_processes(
       multihost.unique_barrier_key(