diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/compose/production/django/Dockerfile b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/compose/production/django/Dockerfile
index 36ed09ffe..4e3434582 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/compose/production/django/Dockerfile
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.project_slug}}/compose/production/django/Dockerfile
@@ -119,6 +119,11 @@ COPY --from=client-builder --chown=django:django ${APP_HOME} ${APP_HOME}
 COPY --chown=django:django . ${APP_HOME}
 {%- endif %}
 
+{%- if cookiecutter.cloud_provider == 'None' %} 
+# explicitly create the media folder before changing ownership below
+RUN mkdir -p ${APP_HOME}/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/media
+{%- endif %}
+
 # make django owner of the WORKDIR directory as well.
 RUN chown -R django:django ${APP_HOME}