diff --git a/script/tool/lib/src/publish_command.dart b/script/tool/lib/src/publish_command.dart
index 717fb3b53733..eb042fb6faa5 100644
--- a/script/tool/lib/src/publish_command.dart
+++ b/script/tool/lib/src/publish_command.dart
@@ -415,6 +415,7 @@ If running this command on CI, you can set the pub credential content in the $_p
 ''');
       throw ToolExit(1);
     }
+    credentialFile.createSync(recursive: true);
     credentialFile.openSync(mode: FileMode.writeOnlyAppend)
       ..writeStringSync(credential)
       ..closeSync();
diff --git a/script/tool/test/publish_command_test.dart b/script/tool/test/publish_command_test.dart
index bbee7f94a530..78daf4527d11 100644
--- a/script/tool/test/publish_command_test.dart
+++ b/script/tool/test/publish_command_test.dart
@@ -263,6 +263,25 @@ void main() {
           ]));
     });
 
+    test('creates credential file from envirnoment variable if necessary',
+        () async {
+      createFakePlugin('foo', packagesDir, examples: <String>[]);
+      const String credentials = 'some credential';
+      platform.environment['PUB_CREDENTIALS'] = credentials;
+
+      await runCapturingPrint(commandRunner, <String>[
+        'publish',
+        '--packages=foo',
+        '--skip-confirmation',
+        '--pub-publish-flags',
+        '--server=bar'
+      ]);
+
+      final File credentialFile = fileSystem.file(command.credentialsPath);
+      expect(credentialFile.existsSync(), true);
+      expect(credentialFile.readAsStringSync(), credentials);
+    });
+
     test('throws if pub publish fails', () async {
       createFakePlugin('foo', packagesDir, examples: <String>[]);