diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/docker/examples.nix b/pkgs/build-support/docker/examples.nix
index f42b35e6494..b81d741ba2b 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/docker/examples.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/docker/examples.nix
@@ -69,6 +69,12 @@ rec {
     tag = "latest";
     contents = pkgs.nginx;
 
+    extraCommands = ''
+      # nginx still tries to read this directory even if error_log
+      # directive is specifying another file :/
+      mkdir -p var/log/nginx
+      mkdir -p var/cache/nginx
+    '';
     runAsRoot = ''
       #!${pkgs.stdenv.shell}
       ${shadowSetup}