diff --git a/.forgejo/workflows/test.yml b/.forgejo/workflows/test.yml
index a95c9a4..4d5abdb 100644
--- a/.forgejo/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.forgejo/workflows/test.yml
@@ -29,7 +29,12 @@ jobs:
           /tmp/venv/bin/pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
 
       - name: Django system check
-        run: /tmp/venv/bin/python manage.py check
+        # The SQLite file lives in data/ (a volume in production, git-ignored).
+        # Since the podcast models have JSON fields, the check opens the
+        # database to ask whether it supports them — so the folder must exist.
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p data
+          /tmp/venv/bin/python manage.py check
 
       - name: Run tests
         run: /tmp/venv/bin/python manage.py test