diff --git a/Vagrantfile b/Vagrantfile
index a8cdec8..c736b9a 100644
--- a/Vagrantfile
+++ b/Vagrantfile
@@ -2,8 +2,12 @@ Vagrant.configure(2) do |config|
     config.vm.box = "fedora/25-cloud-base"
     config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 9090, host: 9090
 
+    if Dir.glob("dist/*").length == 0
+      config.vm.post_up_message = "NOTE: Distribution directory is empty. Run `make` to see your module show up in cockpit"
+    end
+
     config.vm.synced_folder ".", "/vagrant", disabled: true
-    config.vm.synced_folder "dist/", "/usr/local/share/cockpit/" + File.basename(Dir.pwd)
+    config.vm.synced_folder "dist/", "/usr/local/share/cockpit/" + File.basename(Dir.pwd), create: true
 
     config.vm.provider "libvirt" do |libvirt|
         libvirt.memory = 1024