diff --git a/modules/programs/bash.nix b/modules/programs/bash.nix
index 3a367b9e7..8356d8a06 100644
--- a/modules/programs/bash.nix
+++ b/modules/programs/bash.nix
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ in {
 
     sessionVarsStr = config.lib.shell.exportAll cfg.sessionVariables;
 
-    historyControlStr = concatStringsSep "\n"
+    historyControlStr = (concatStringsSep "\n"
       (mapAttrsToList (n: v: "${n}=${v}") ({
         HISTFILESIZE = toString cfg.historyFileSize;
         HISTSIZE = toString cfg.historySize;
@@ -190,7 +190,8 @@ in {
         HISTCONTROL = concatStringsSep ":" cfg.historyControl;
       } // optionalAttrs (cfg.historyIgnore != [ ]) {
         HISTIGNORE = escapeShellArg (concatStringsSep ":" cfg.historyIgnore);
-      }));
+      }) ++ optional (cfg.historyFile != null)
+        ''mkdir -p "$(dirname "$HISTFILE")"''));
   in mkIf cfg.enable {
     home.packages = [ cfg.package ];
 
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/bash/bash-history-control-with-file.nix b/tests/modules/programs/bash/bash-history-control-with-file.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..449da8860
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/modules/programs/bash/bash-history-control-with-file.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+
+with lib;
+
+{
+  config = {
+    programs.bash = {
+      enable = true;
+      historyControl = [ "erasedups" ];
+      historyFile = "/home/hm-user/foo/bash/history";
+    };
+
+    nmt.script = ''
+      assertFileExists home-files/.bashrc
+
+      assertFileRegex home-files/.bashrc \
+        '^mkdir -p "\$(dirname "\$HISTFILE")"'
+    '';
+  };
+}
diff --git a/tests/modules/programs/bash/default.nix b/tests/modules/programs/bash/default.nix
index 1dbbee777..6b20d1fbc 100644
--- a/tests/modules/programs/bash/default.nix
+++ b/tests/modules/programs/bash/default.nix
@@ -2,4 +2,5 @@
   bash-completion = ./completion.nix;
   bash-logout = ./logout.nix;
   bash-session-variables = ./session-variables.nix;
+  bash-history-control-with-file = ./bash-history-control-with-file.nix;
 }