diff --git a/pandas/io/common.py b/pandas/io/common.py
index 06b00a9cbb4eb..bc198cb14ac9a 100644
--- a/pandas/io/common.py
+++ b/pandas/io/common.py
@@ -72,6 +72,9 @@ class IOArgs:
     compression: CompressionDict
     should_close: bool = False
 
+    def __post_init__(self):
+        self.parent_exists = dir_exists(self.filepath_or_buffer)
+
 
 @dataclasses.dataclass
 class IOHandles:
@@ -630,6 +633,17 @@ def get_handle(
     compression_args = dict(ioargs.compression)
     compression = compression_args.pop("method")
 
+    # If the parent directory doesn't exist initializing the stream will fail (GH 24306)
+    if (
+        is_path
+        and not ioargs.parent_exists
+        and _is_writable_mode(mode)
+    ):
+        os.makedirs(
+            os.path.dirname(ioargs.filepath_or_buffer),
+            exist_ok=True,
+        )
+
     if compression:
         # compression libraries do not like an explicit text-mode
         ioargs.mode = ioargs.mode.replace("t", "")
@@ -937,6 +951,26 @@ def file_exists(filepath_or_buffer: FilePathOrBuffer) -> bool:
     return exists
 
 
+def dir_exists(filepath_or_buffer: FilePathOrBuffer) -> bool:
+    """Test whether parent directory exists."""
+    exists = False
+    filepath_or_buffer = stringify_path(filepath_or_buffer)
+    if not isinstance(filepath_or_buffer, str):
+        return exists
+
+    dirname = os.path.dirname(filepath_or_buffer)
+    if not len(dirname):
+        # This is the current working directory
+        exists = True
+    else:
+        try:
+            exists = os.path.exists(dirname)
+            # gh-5874: if the filepath is too long will raise here
+        except (TypeError, ValueError):
+            pass
+    return exists
+
+
 def _is_binary_mode(handle: FilePathOrBuffer, mode: str) -> bool:
     """Whether the handle is opened in binary mode"""
     # specified by user
@@ -951,3 +985,11 @@ def _is_binary_mode(handle: FilePathOrBuffer, mode: str) -> bool:
     # classes that expect bytes
     binary_classes = (BufferedIOBase, RawIOBase)
     return isinstance(handle, binary_classes) or "b" in getattr(handle, "mode", mode)
+
+
+def _is_writable_mode(mode: str) -> bool:
+    """Whether the handle is opened in writable mode"""
+    writable_prefixes = ('a', 'w', 'r+')
+    if any(map(mode.startswith, writable_prefixes)):
+        return True
+    return False
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/test_common.py b/pandas/tests/io/test_common.py
index d52ea01ac35de..31aa0beb6618e 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/test_common.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/test_common.py
@@ -533,3 +533,12 @@ def test_errno_attribute():
     with pytest.raises(FileNotFoundError, match="\\[Errno 2\\]") as err:
         pd.read_csv("doesnt_exist")
         assert err.errno == errno.ENOENT
+
+
+def test_create_missing_dirs():
+    # GH 24306
+    df = tm.makeDataFrame()
+    with tm.ensure_clean_dir() as fp:
+        full_path = os.path.join(fp, 'nonexistent/path/to/file.csv')
+        df.to_csv(full_path)
+        assert os.path.exists(full_path)
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/test_parquet.py b/pandas/tests/io/test_parquet.py
index d100c584b698a..ec1c986badf19 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/test_parquet.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/test_parquet.py
@@ -737,8 +737,6 @@ def test_expand_user(self, df_compat, monkeypatch):
         monkeypatch.setenv("USERPROFILE", "TestingUser")
         with pytest.raises(OSError, match=r".*TestingUser.*"):
             read_parquet("~/file.parquet")
-        with pytest.raises(OSError, match=r".*TestingUser.*"):
-            df_compat.to_parquet("~/file.parquet")
 
     def test_partition_cols_supported(self, pa, df_full):
         # GH #23283
diff --git a/pandas/tests/io/xml/test_to_xml.py b/pandas/tests/io/xml/test_to_xml.py
index 1e2973075f98e..a6b4c118b9142 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/io/xml/test_to_xml.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/io/xml/test_to_xml.py
@@ -199,13 +199,6 @@ def test_str_output(datapath, parser):
     assert output == from_file_expected
 
 
-def test_wrong_file_path(parser):
-    with pytest.raises(
-        FileNotFoundError, match=("No such file or directory|没有那个文件或目录")
-    ):
-        geom_df.to_xml("/my/fake/path/output.xml", parser=parser)
-
-
 # INDEX