diff --git a/intelmq/bots/experts/asn_lookup/expert.py b/intelmq/bots/experts/asn_lookup/expert.py
index 008e291dc..6b1cf5bf5 100644
--- a/intelmq/bots/experts/asn_lookup/expert.py
+++ b/intelmq/bots/experts/asn_lookup/expert.py
@@ -123,10 +123,12 @@ def update_database(cls, verbose=False):
             raise MissingDependencyError("pyasn")
 
         for database_path in set(bots.values()):
-            if not Path(database_path).is_file():
-                raise ValueError('Database file does not exist or is not a file.')
-            elif not os.access(database_path, os.W_OK):
-                raise ValueError('Database file is not writeable.')
+            database_file = Path(database_path)
+            if database_file.is_file():
+                # File exists, check if it's writeable
+                if not os.access(database_path, os.W_OK):
+                    raise ValueError('Database file is not writeable.')
+            # If file doesn't exist, the directory will be created later when downloading
 
         try:
             if verbose: