diff --git a/server/lib/prosody/config.ts b/server/lib/prosody/config.ts
index 7c7ba17a..53fd1a73 100644
--- a/server/lib/prosody/config.ts
+++ b/server/lib/prosody/config.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ async function getProsodyFilePaths (options: RegisterServerOptions): Promise<Pro
   let execCtl
   let execCtlArgs: string[]
   let appImageToExtract
+
+  // this one is always needed (must create the directory on startup)
+  const appImageExtractPath = path.resolve(dir, '..', 'prosodyAppImage')
+
   if (settings['use-system-prosody']) {
     exec = 'prosody'
     execArgs = []
@@ -40,11 +44,12 @@ async function getProsodyFilePaths (options: RegisterServerOptions): Promise<Pro
     execCtlArgs = []
   } else {
     appImageToExtract = path.resolve(__dirname, '../../prosody/livechat-prosody-x86_64.AppImage')
-    exec = path.resolve(dir, 'squashfs-root/AppRun') // the AppImage will be extracted in the working dir
+    exec = path.resolve(appImageExtractPath, 'squashfs-root/AppRun')
     execArgs = ['prosody']
     execCtl = exec
     execCtlArgs = ['prosodyctl']
   }
+
   return {
     dir: dir,
     pid: path.resolve(dir, 'prosody.pid'),
@@ -58,7 +63,8 @@ async function getProsodyFilePaths (options: RegisterServerOptions): Promise<Pro
     execArgs,
     execCtl,
     execCtlArgs,
-    appImageToExtract
+    appImageToExtract,
+    appImageExtractPath
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/server/lib/prosody/config/paths.ts b/server/lib/prosody/config/paths.ts
index 623b6f68..4b242d2a 100644
--- a/server/lib/prosody/config/paths.ts
+++ b/server/lib/prosody/config/paths.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ interface ProsodyFilePaths {
   execCtl: string
   execCtlArgs: string[]
   appImageToExtract?: string
+  appImageExtractPath: string
 }
 
 export {
diff --git a/server/lib/prosody/ctl.ts b/server/lib/prosody/ctl.ts
index 6a63f678..a01dee9a 100644
--- a/server/lib/prosody/ctl.ts
+++ b/server/lib/prosody/ctl.ts
@@ -8,10 +8,11 @@ import * as child_process from 'child_process'
 async function _ensureWorkingDir (
   options: RegisterServerOptions,
   workingDir: string,
-  dataDir: string
+  dataDir: string,
+  appImageExtractPath: string
 ): Promise<string> {
   const logger = options.peertubeHelpers.logger
-  logger.debug('Calling ensureworkingDir')
+  logger.debug('Calling _ensureworkingDir')
 
   if (!fs.existsSync(workingDir)) {
     logger.info(`The working dir ${workingDir} does not exists, trying to create it`)
@@ -25,7 +26,13 @@ async function _ensureWorkingDir (
   if (!fs.existsSync(dataDir)) {
     logger.info(`The data dir ${dataDir} does not exists, trying to create it`)
     await fs.promises.mkdir(dataDir)
-    logger.debug(`Working dir ${dataDir} was created`)
+    logger.debug(`data dir ${dataDir} was created`)
+  }
+
+  if (!fs.existsSync(appImageExtractPath)) {
+    logger.info(`The appImageExtractPath dir ${appImageExtractPath} does not exists, trying to create it`)
+    await fs.promises.mkdir(appImageExtractPath)
+    logger.debug(`appImageExtractPath dir ${appImageExtractPath} was created`)
   }
 
   return workingDir
@@ -42,7 +49,7 @@ async function prepareProsody (options: RegisterServerOptions): Promise<void> {
   const filePaths = await getProsodyFilePaths(options)
 
   logger.debug('Ensuring that the working dir exists')
-  await _ensureWorkingDir(options, filePaths.dir, filePaths.data)
+  await _ensureWorkingDir(options, filePaths.dir, filePaths.data, filePaths.appImageExtractPath)
 
   const appImageToExtract = filePaths.appImageToExtract
   if (!appImageToExtract) {
@@ -51,7 +58,7 @@ async function prepareProsody (options: RegisterServerOptions): Promise<void> {
 
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     const spawned = child_process.spawn(appImageToExtract, ['--appimage-extract'], {
-      cwd: filePaths.dir,
+      cwd: filePaths.appImageExtractPath,
       env: {
         ...process.env
       }