diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/v1alpha1/taskrun/resources/pod.go b/pkg/reconciler/v1alpha1/taskrun/resources/pod.go
index a02860caf56..df10a9029f5 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/v1alpha1/taskrun/resources/pod.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/v1alpha1/taskrun/resources/pod.go
@@ -93,9 +93,14 @@ const (
 	unnamedInitContainerPrefix = "build-step-unnamed-"
 	// Name of the credential initialization container.
 	credsInit = "credential-initializer"
+	// Name of the working dir initialization container.
+	workingDirInit = "working-dir-initializer"
 )
 
 var (
+	// The container used to initialize working directories before the build runs.
+	bashWorkingDirImage = flag.String("bash-working-dir-image", "override-with-bash-noop:latest",
+		"The container image for preparing our Build's working directories.")
 	// The container used to initialize credentials before the build runs.
 	credsImage = flag.String("creds-image", "override-with-creds:latest",
 		"The container image for preparing our Build's credentials.")
@@ -162,6 +167,45 @@ func makeCredentialInitializer(serviceAccountName, namespace string, kubeclient
 	}, volumes, nil
 }
 
+func makeWorkingDirScript(workingDirs map[string]bool) string {
+	script := ""
+	for wd := range workingDirs {
+		if wd != "" {
+			p := filepath.Clean(wd)
+			if rel, err := filepath.Rel(workspaceDir, p); err == nil && !strings.HasPrefix(rel, ".") {
+				if script == "" {
+					script = fmt.Sprintf("mkdir -p %s", p)
+				} else {
+					script = fmt.Sprintf("%s %s", script, p)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return script
+}
+
+func makeWorkingDirInitializer(steps []corev1.Container) *corev1.Container {
+	workingDirs := make(map[string]bool)
+	for _, step := range steps {
+		workingDirs[step.WorkingDir] = true
+	}
+
+	if script := makeWorkingDirScript(workingDirs); script != "" {
+		return &corev1.Container{
+			Name:         names.SimpleNameGenerator.RestrictLengthWithRandomSuffix(containerPrefix + workingDirInit),
+			Image:        *bashWorkingDirImage,
+			Command:      []string{"/ko-app/bash"},
+			Args:         []string{"-args", script},
+			VolumeMounts: implicitVolumeMounts,
+			Env:          implicitEnvVars,
+			WorkingDir:   workspaceDir,
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 // GetPod returns the Pod for the given pod name
 type GetPod func(string, metav1.GetOptions) (*corev1.Pod, error)
 
@@ -197,6 +241,10 @@ func MakePod(taskRun *v1alpha1.TaskRun, taskSpec v1alpha1.TaskSpec, kubeclient k
 	initContainers := []corev1.Container{*cred}
 	podContainers := []corev1.Container{}
 
+	if workingDir := makeWorkingDirInitializer(taskSpec.Steps); workingDir != nil {
+		initContainers = append(initContainers, *workingDir)
+	}
+
 	maxIndicesByResource := findMaxResourceRequest(taskSpec.Steps, corev1.ResourceCPU, corev1.ResourceMemory, corev1.ResourceEphemeralStorage)
 
 	for i := range taskSpec.Steps {
diff --git a/pkg/reconciler/v1alpha1/taskrun/resources/pod_test.go b/pkg/reconciler/v1alpha1/taskrun/resources/pod_test.go
index 6f3bbcbcb39..121926eaee5 100644
--- a/pkg/reconciler/v1alpha1/taskrun/resources/pod_test.go
+++ b/pkg/reconciler/v1alpha1/taskrun/resources/pod_test.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package resources
 import (
 	"crypto/rand"
 	"fmt"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -314,6 +315,52 @@ func TestMakePod(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			Volumes: implicitVolumes,
 		},
+	}, {
+		desc: "working-dir-in-workspace-dir",
+		ts: v1alpha1.TaskSpec{
+			Steps: []corev1.Container{{
+				Name:       "name",
+				Image:      "image",
+				WorkingDir: filepath.Join(workspaceDir, "test"),
+			}},
+		},
+		want: &corev1.PodSpec{
+			RestartPolicy: corev1.RestartPolicyNever,
+			InitContainers: []corev1.Container{{
+				Name:         containerPrefix + credsInit + "-9l9zj",
+				Image:        *credsImage,
+				Command:      []string{"/ko-app/creds-init"},
+				Args:         []string{},
+				Env:          implicitEnvVars,
+				VolumeMounts: implicitVolumeMounts,
+				WorkingDir:   workspaceDir,
+			}, {
+				Name:         containerPrefix + workingDirInit + "-mz4c7",
+				Image:        *bashWorkingDirImage,
+				Command:      []string{"/ko-app/bash"},
+				Args:         []string{"-args", fmt.Sprintf("mkdir -p %s", filepath.Join(workspaceDir, "test"))},
+				Env:          implicitEnvVars,
+				VolumeMounts: implicitVolumeMounts,
+				WorkingDir:   workspaceDir,
+			}},
+			Containers: []corev1.Container{{
+				Name:         "build-step-name",
+				Image:        "image",
+				Env:          implicitEnvVars,
+				VolumeMounts: implicitVolumeMounts,
+				WorkingDir:   filepath.Join(workspaceDir, "test"),
+				Resources: corev1.ResourceRequirements{
+					Requests: corev1.ResourceList{
+						corev1.ResourceCPU:              resource.MustParse("0"),
+						corev1.ResourceMemory:           resource.MustParse("0"),
+						corev1.ResourceEphemeralStorage: resource.MustParse("0"),
+					},
+				},
+			},
+				nopContainer,
+			},
+			Volumes: implicitVolumes,
+		},
 	}} {
 		t.Run(c.desc, func(t *testing.T) {
 			names.TestingSeed()
@@ -374,3 +421,29 @@ func TestMakePod(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestMakeWorkingDirScript(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, c := range []struct {
+		desc        string
+		workingDirs map[string]bool
+		want        string
+	}{{
+		desc:        "default",
+		workingDirs: map[string]bool{"/workspace": true},
+		want:        "",
+	}, {
+		desc:        "simple",
+		workingDirs: map[string]bool{"/workspace/foo": true, "/workspace/bar": true, "/baz": true},
+		want:        "mkdir -p /workspace/foo /workspace/bar",
+	}, {
+		desc:        "empty",
+		workingDirs: map[string]bool{"/workspace": true, "": true, "/baz": true, "/workspacedir": true},
+		want:        "",
+	}} {
+		t.Run(c.desc, func(t *testing.T) {
+			if script := makeWorkingDirScript(c.workingDirs); script != c.want {
+				t.Errorf("Expected `%v`, got `%v`", c.want, script)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}