diff --git a/roles/netbird_coordinator/tasks/main.yml b/roles/netbird_coordinator/tasks/main.yml
index 1cd8e3d..31b25e3 100644
--- a/roles/netbird_coordinator/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/netbird_coordinator/tasks/main.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
     path: "{{ netbird_coordinator__base_dir }}"
     state: directory
     mode: "0750"
+  # create the scaffold even in --check so dry-run can evaluate templates + compose (idempotent mkdir)
+  check_mode: false
   tags: [config]
 
 - name: Render the combined server config
diff --git a/roles/reverse_proxy/tasks/main.yml b/roles/reverse_proxy/tasks/main.yml
index a89fedc..30f7104 100644
--- a/roles/reverse_proxy/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/reverse_proxy/tasks/main.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
     path: "{{ reverse_proxy__base_dir }}"
     state: directory
     mode: "0750"
+  # create the scaffold even in --check so dry-run can evaluate templates + compose (idempotent mkdir)
+  check_mode: false
   tags: [config]
 
 - name: Ensure the Caddy config directory exists
@@ -11,6 +13,8 @@
     path: "{{ reverse_proxy__base_dir }}/caddy"
     state: directory
     mode: "0750"
+  # create the scaffold even in --check so dry-run can evaluate templates + compose (idempotent mkdir)
+  check_mode: false
   tags: [config]
 
 # Render into a directory that is bind-mounted whole (./caddy -> /etc/caddy). Mounting