diff --git a/src/config.c b/src/config.c
index 9f7f6c4..f5b3547 100644
--- a/src/config.c
+++ b/src/config.c
@@ -1274,6 +1274,11 @@ gboolean config_read_default_path()
 
 	// generate config file
 	fprintf(stderr, "tint2 warning: could not find a config file!\n");
+	// According to the XDG Base Directory Specification (https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-0.6.html)
+	// if the user's config directory does not exist, we should create it with permissions set to 0700.
+	if (!g_file_test(g_get_user_config_dir(), G_FILE_TEST_IS_DIR))
+		g_mkdir(g_get_user_config_dir(), 0700);
+
 	gchar *dir = g_build_filename(g_get_user_config_dir(), "tint2", NULL);
 	if (!g_file_test(dir, G_FILE_TEST_IS_DIR))
 		g_mkdir(dir, 0700);