diff --git a/src/plugins/clangcodemodel/clangcodemodelplugin.cpp b/src/plugins/clangcodemodel/clangcodemodelplugin.cpp
index 11de94c3951..a4a1591cf47 100644
--- a/src/plugins/clangcodemodel/clangcodemodelplugin.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/clangcodemodel/clangcodemodelplugin.cpp
@@ -68,13 +68,12 @@ void ClangCodeModelPlugin::generateCompilationDB() {
     using namespace CppTools;
 
     ProjectExplorer::Project *project = ProjectExplorer::SessionManager::startupProject();
-    if (!project)
+    if (!project || !project->activeTarget())
         return;
 
-    m_generatorWatcher.setFuture(QtConcurrent::run(
-                                     &Utils::generateCompilationDB,
-                                     project->projectDirectory(),
-                                     CppModelManager::instance()->projectInfo(project)));
+    m_generatorWatcher.setFuture(
+        QtConcurrent::run(&Utils::generateCompilationDB,
+                          CppModelManager::instance()->projectInfo(project)));
 }
 
 static bool isDBGenerationEnabled(ProjectExplorer::Project *project)
diff --git a/src/plugins/clangcodemodel/clangutils.cpp b/src/plugins/clangcodemodel/clangutils.cpp
index c8e74f663f5..599b561011e 100644
--- a/src/plugins/clangcodemodel/clangutils.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/clangcodemodel/clangutils.cpp
@@ -313,9 +313,9 @@ static ::Utils::FileName compilerPath(const CppTools::ProjectPart &projectPart)
     return toolchain->compilerCommand();
 }
 
-static ::Utils::FileName buildDirectory(const CppTools::ProjectPart &projectPart)
+static ::Utils::FileName buildDirectory(const ProjectExplorer::Project &project)
 {
-    ProjectExplorer::Target *target = projectPart.project->activeTarget();
+    ProjectExplorer::Target *target = project.activeTarget();
     if (!target)
         return ::Utils::FileName();
 
@@ -386,17 +386,21 @@ static QJsonObject createFileObject(const ::Utils::FileName &buildDir,
     return fileObject;
 }
 
-void generateCompilationDB(::Utils::FileName projectDir, CppTools::ProjectInfo projectInfo)
+void generateCompilationDB(CppTools::ProjectInfo projectInfo)
 {
-    QFile compileCommandsFile(projectDir.toString() + "/compile_commands.json");
+    const ::Utils::FileName buildDir = buildDirectory(*projectInfo.project());
+    QTC_ASSERT(!buildDir.isEmpty(), return;);
 
+    QDir dir(buildDir.toString());
+    if (!dir.exists())
+        dir.mkpath(dir.path());
+    QFile compileCommandsFile(buildDir.toString() + "/compile_commands.json");
     const bool fileOpened = compileCommandsFile.open(QIODevice::WriteOnly | QIODevice::Truncate);
     if (!fileOpened)
         return;
     compileCommandsFile.write("[");
 
     for (ProjectPart::Ptr projectPart : projectInfo.projectParts()) {
-        const ::Utils::FileName buildDir = buildDirectory(*projectPart);
         const QStringList args = projectPartArguments(*projectPart);
         for (const ProjectFile &projFile : projectPart->files) {
             const QJsonObject json = createFileObject(buildDir, args, *projectPart, projFile);
diff --git a/src/plugins/clangcodemodel/clangutils.h b/src/plugins/clangcodemodel/clangutils.h
index 4db869896b0..8ced14f5ad6 100644
--- a/src/plugins/clangcodemodel/clangutils.h
+++ b/src/plugins/clangcodemodel/clangutils.h
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ QString diagnosticCategoryPrefixRemoved(const QString &text);
 
 ::Utils::CodeModelIcon::Type iconTypeForToken(const ClangBackEnd::TokenInfoContainer &token);
 
-void generateCompilationDB(::Utils::FileName projectDir, CppTools::ProjectInfo projectInfo);
+void generateCompilationDB(CppTools::ProjectInfo projectInfo);
 
 class DiagnosticTextInfo
 {