diff --git a/framework/log/FileTarget.php b/framework/log/FileTarget.php
index 35310e3d1d..8e5c043c40 100644
--- a/framework/log/FileTarget.php
+++ b/framework/log/FileTarget.php
@@ -85,10 +85,6 @@ class FileTarget extends Target
         } else {
             $this->logFile = Yii::getAlias($this->logFile);
         }
-        $logPath = dirname($this->logFile);
-        if (!is_dir($logPath)) {
-            FileHelper::createDirectory($logPath, $this->dirMode, true);
-        }
         if ($this->maxLogFiles < 1) {
             $this->maxLogFiles = 1;
         }
@@ -105,6 +101,11 @@ class FileTarget extends Target
      */
     public function export()
     {
+        $logPath = dirname($this->logFile);
+        if (!is_dir($logPath)) {
+            FileHelper::createDirectory($logPath, $this->dirMode, true);
+        }
+
         $text = implode("\n", array_map([$this, 'formatMessage'], $this->messages)) . "\n";
         if (($fp = @fopen($this->logFile, 'a')) === false) {
             throw new InvalidConfigException("Unable to append to log file: {$this->logFile}");
diff --git a/tests/framework/log/FileTargetTest.php b/tests/framework/log/FileTargetTest.php
index 0aefea75ff..993171dbf7 100644
--- a/tests/framework/log/FileTargetTest.php
+++ b/tests/framework/log/FileTargetTest.php
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ namespace yiiunit\framework\log;
 use Yii;
 use yii\helpers\FileHelper;
 use yii\log\Dispatcher;
+use yii\log\FileTarget;
 use yii\log\Logger;
 use yiiunit\TestCase;
 
@@ -32,6 +33,22 @@ class FileTargetTest extends TestCase
         ];
     }
 
+    /**
+     * @test
+     */
+    public function testInit()
+    {
+        $logFile = Yii::getAlias('@yiiunit/runtime/log/filetargettest.log');
+        FileHelper::removeDirectory(dirname($logFile));
+        new FileTarget([
+            'logFile' => Yii::getAlias('@yiiunit/runtime/log/filetargettest.log'),
+        ]);
+        $this->assertFileNotExists(
+            dirname($logFile),
+            'Log directory should not be created during init process'
+        );
+    }
+
     /**
      * @dataProvider booleanDataProvider
      * @param bool $rotateByCopy