diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6b468b6..7560428 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 *.class
+dist
diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 499b54c..b8aa7f1 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
     <target name="jar" depends="build"
             description="create Jar from compiled sources">
+        <mkdir dir="dist" />
         <jar destfile="dist/learning-java.jar">
             <fileset dir="obj" includes="**/*.class"/>
         </jar>