diff --git a/resources/filecontent/filecontent.dsc.resource.json b/resources/filecontent/filecontent.dsc.resource.json
index 12ba48307..514a256fe 100644
--- a/resources/filecontent/filecontent.dsc.resource.json
+++ b/resources/filecontent/filecontent.dsc.resource.json
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@
                 "_exist": {
                     "type": "boolean",
                     "title": "Exists",
-                    "description": "Indicates whether the file should exist. Set to false to remove the file."
+                    "description": "Indicates whether the file should exist. Set to true or omit to create or update the file and any missing parent directories. Set to false to remove the file."
                 },
                 "_inDesiredState": {
                     "type": "boolean",
diff --git a/resources/filecontent/locales/en-us.toml b/resources/filecontent/locales/en-us.toml
index c2a3834ae..ce267e0ca 100644
--- a/resources/filecontent/locales/en-us.toml
+++ b/resources/filecontent/locales/en-us.toml
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ readError = "Failed to read file '%{path}': %{error}"
 
 [set]
 contentRequired = "The content property is required when setting a file"
+creatingParentDirectory = "Creating parent directory '%{path}'"
+createParentDirectoryError = "Failed to create parent directory '%{path}': %{error}"
 writeError = "Failed to write file '%{path}': %{error}"
 removeError = "Failed to remove file '%{path}': %{error}"
 sha256Mismatch = "The sha256 value does not match the content property"
diff --git a/resources/filecontent/src/file.rs b/resources/filecontent/src/file.rs
index d6a8306b4..9072b1e2a 100644
--- a/resources/filecontent/src/file.rs
+++ b/resources/filecontent/src/file.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 use crate::types::FileContent;
 use rust_i18n::t;
+use serde_json::json;
 use sha2::{Digest, Sha256, Sha512};
 use std::fs;
 use std::path::Path;
@@ -37,6 +38,24 @@ pub fn set(input: &FileContent) -> Result<FileContent, String> {
     };
     validate_content_hashes(input, content)?;
 
+    if let Some(parent) = path.parent()
+        && !parent.as_os_str().is_empty()
+        && !parent.is_dir()
+    {
+        eprintln!(
+            "{}",
+            json!({ "info": t!("set.creatingParentDirectory", path = parent.display().to_string()) })
+        );
+        fs::create_dir_all(parent).map_err(|error| {
+            t!(
+                "set.createParentDirectoryError",
+                path = parent.display().to_string(),
+                error = error.to_string()
+            )
+            .to_string()
+        })?;
+    }
+
     fs::write(path, content.as_bytes()).map_err(|error| {
         t!(
             "set.writeError",
@@ -136,7 +155,12 @@ fn validate_hash(value: Option<&str>, length: usize, name: &str) -> Result<(), S
 fn read_state(path: &str) -> Result<FileContent, String> {
     let bytes = match fs::read(path) {
         Ok(bytes) => bytes,
-        Err(error) if error.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => {
+        Err(error)
+            if matches!(
+                error.kind(),
+                std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound | std::io::ErrorKind::NotADirectory
+            ) =>
+        {
             return Ok(FileContent {
                 path: path.to_string(),
                 content: None,
diff --git a/resources/filecontent/tests/filecontent_set.tests.ps1 b/resources/filecontent/tests/filecontent_set.tests.ps1
index 4cd42dad4..59ced792a 100644
--- a/resources/filecontent/tests/filecontent_set.tests.ps1
+++ b/resources/filecontent/tests/filecontent_set.tests.ps1
@@ -7,11 +7,13 @@ Describe 'FileContent set tests' {
     }
 
     BeforeEach {
-        $filePath = Join-Path $TestDrive "$([System.Guid]::NewGuid()).txt"
+        $testRoot = Join-Path $TestDrive "$([System.Guid]::NewGuid())"
+        $null = New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $testRoot
+        $filePath = Join-Path $testRoot 'file.txt'
     }
 
     AfterEach {
-        Remove-Item -LiteralPath $filePath -Force -ErrorAction Ignore
+        Remove-Item -LiteralPath $testRoot -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction Ignore
     }
 
     It 'Creates a UTF-8 file and returns its hashes' {
@@ -26,6 +28,51 @@ Describe 'FileContent set tests' {
         $actual.sha256 | Should -BeExactly '2cf24dba5fb0a30e26e83b2ac5b9e29e1b161e5c1fa7425e73043362938b9824'
     }
 
+    It 'Creates missing parent directories and reports the creation when _exist is <existSetting>' -ForEach @(
+        @{ existSetting = 'true'; includeExist = $true }
+        @{ existSetting = 'omitted'; includeExist = $false }
+    ) {
+        $existingDirectory = Join-Path $testRoot 'a'
+        $null = New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $existingDirectory
+        $firstMissingDirectory = Join-Path $existingDirectory 'b'
+        $secondMissingDirectory = Join-Path $firstMissingDirectory 'c'
+        $nestedFilePath = Join-Path $secondMissingDirectory 'file.txt'
+        $stderrPath = Join-Path $testRoot 'stderr.log'
+        $inputState = @{ path = $nestedFilePath; content = 'nested' }
+        if ($includeExist) {
+            $inputState._exist = $true
+        }
+        $json = $inputState | ConvertTo-Json -Compress
+
+        $out = $json | dsc -l info resource set -r $resourceType -f - 2>$stderrPath
+        $LASTEXITCODE | Should -Be 0 -Because (Get-Content -Raw $stderrPath)
+        $actual = ($out | ConvertFrom-Json).afterState
+
+        [System.IO.File]::ReadAllText($nestedFilePath) | Should -BeExactly 'nested'
+        $firstMissingDirectory | Should -Exist
+        $secondMissingDirectory | Should -Exist
+        $actual._exist | Should -BeTrue
+        (Get-Content -Raw $stderrPath) |
+            Should -BeLike "*INFO*Creating parent directory '$secondMissingDirectory'*"
+    }
+
+    It 'Reports an error when an intermediate parent path is a file' {
+        $existingDirectory = Join-Path $testRoot 'a'
+        $null = New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $existingDirectory
+        $blockingPath = Join-Path $existingDirectory 'b'
+        [System.IO.File]::WriteAllText($blockingPath, 'blocking file')
+        $blockedParent = Join-Path $blockingPath 'c'
+        $blockedFilePath = Join-Path $blockedParent 'file.txt'
+        $stderrPath = Join-Path $testRoot 'stderr.log'
+        $json = @{ path = $blockedFilePath; content = 'blocked' } | ConvertTo-Json -Compress
+
+        $null = $json | dsc resource set -r $resourceType -f - 2>$stderrPath
+
+        $LASTEXITCODE | Should -Not -Be 0
+        (Get-Content -Raw $stderrPath) |
+            Should -BeLike "*Failed to create parent directory '$blockedParent'*"
+    }
+
     It 'Removes a file when _exist is false' {
         [System.IO.File]::WriteAllText($filePath, 'remove me')
         $json = @{ path = $filePath; _exist = $false } | ConvertTo-Json -Compress