diff --git a/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/sqlite-cache-store.ts b/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/sqlite-cache-store.ts
index a46251ce4d31..9de037800844 100644
--- a/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/sqlite-cache-store.ts
+++ b/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/sqlite-cache-store.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
  * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.dev/license
  */
 
+import { mkdirSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { dirname } from 'node:path';
 import { DatabaseSync, StatementSync } from 'node:sqlite';
 import { deserialize, serialize } from 'node:v8';
 import { Cache, PersistentCacheStore } from './cache';
@@ -35,7 +37,19 @@ export class SqliteCacheStore implements PersistentCacheStore<unknown> {
 
   #ensureDb(): DatabaseSync {
     if (!this.#db) {
-      this.#db = new DatabaseSync(this.cachePath);
+      if (this.cachePath === ':memory:') {
+        this.#db = new DatabaseSync(this.cachePath);
+      } else {
+        // Optimistically attempt to open the database file first to avoid directory creation
+        // syscalls on warm builds where the parent directory already exists.
+        try {
+          this.#db = new DatabaseSync(this.cachePath);
+        } catch {
+          mkdirSync(dirname(this.cachePath), { recursive: true });
+          this.#db = new DatabaseSync(this.cachePath);
+        }
+      }
+
       // Optimize SQLite for cache usage
       this.#db.exec('PRAGMA auto_vacuum = FULL;');
       this.#db.exec('PRAGMA journal_mode = WAL;');
diff --git a/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/sqlite-cache-store_spec.ts b/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/sqlite-cache-store_spec.ts
index c76394cb7ee3..15eec7cb1298 100644
--- a/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/sqlite-cache-store_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/sqlite-cache-store_spec.ts
@@ -220,6 +220,31 @@ describe('SqliteCacheStore', () => {
     }
   });
 
+  it('should create parent directories if they do not exist', async () => {
+    const nestedDir = join(tempDir, 'nested', 'deeply', 'cache');
+    const nestedCachePath = join(nestedDir, 'nested-cache.db');
+    const nestedStore = new SqliteCacheStore(nestedCachePath);
+
+    try {
+      await nestedStore.set('nested-key', 'nested-value');
+      const result = await nestedStore.get('nested-key');
+      expect(result).toBe('nested-value');
+    } finally {
+      nestedStore.close();
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('should support in-memory databases', async () => {
+    const memoryStore = new SqliteCacheStore(':memory:');
+    try {
+      await memoryStore.set('mem-key', 'mem-value');
+      const result = await memoryStore.get('mem-key');
+      expect(result).toBe('mem-value');
+    } finally {
+      memoryStore.close();
+    }
+  });
+
   describe('NG_BUILD_CACHE_STORE env variable option', () => {
     it('should force SQLite when NG_BUILD_CACHE_STORE=sqlite', () => {
       const code = `