diff --git a/scripts/deploy.sh b/scripts/deploy.sh
index b97421bd277057655381508fd2b4ece886502a4c..9f42b589efac3297a245daec1511ac90dedd9427 100644
--- a/scripts/deploy.sh
+++ b/scripts/deploy.sh
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ set -eo
 
 # Provide a basic version identifier, particularly since this script
 # is usually accessed via CDN.
-echo "ℹ︎ WP-ORG-PLUGIN-DEPLOY VERSION: 2019041402"
+echo "ℹ︎ WP-ORG-PLUGIN-DEPLOY VERSION: 2019041403"
 
 if [[ -z "$CI" ]]; then
 	echo "𝘅︎ Script is only to be run by GitLab CI" 1>&2
@@ -43,6 +43,12 @@ if [[ -z "$WP_ORG_ASSETS_DIR" ]]; then
 	WP_ORG_ASSETS_DIR=".wordpress-org"
 fi
 
+# Create empty static-assets directory if needed, triggering
+# removal of any stray assets in svn.
+if [[ ! -d "${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/${WP_ORG_ASSETS_DIR}/" ]]; then
+    mkdir -p "${CI_PROJECT_DIR}/${WP_ORG_ASSETS_DIR}/"
+fi
+
 echo "ℹ︎ PLUGIN_SLUG: ${PLUGIN_SLUG}"
 echo "ℹ︎ PLUGIN_VERSION: ${PLUGIN_VERSION}"
 echo "ℹ︎ WP_ORG_RELEASE_REF: ${WP_ORG_RELEASE_REF}"