diff --git a/src/clew/clew.py b/src/clew/clew.py
index 8568aa1..9c03aa8 100644
--- a/src/clew/clew.py
+++ b/src/clew/clew.py
@@ -64,10 +64,7 @@ def prepare_output(output_root: Path, overwrite: bool) -> Path:
         for name in MANAGED_DIRS:
             shutil.rmtree(output_root / name, ignore_errors=True)
 
-    extracted_dir = output_root / "extracted"
-    extracted_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
-
-    return extracted_dir
+    return output_root / "extracted"
 
 
 def relative_to(root: Path, path: Path) -> Path: