diff --git a/metagpt/roles/engineer.py b/metagpt/roles/engineer.py
index aced4fca3..84fb3fa6a 100644
--- a/metagpt/roles/engineer.py
+++ b/metagpt/roles/engineer.py
@@ -436,8 +436,6 @@ class Engineer(Role):
             workdir = self.src_workspace / filename.parent
             if not workdir.exists():
                 workdir = self.project_repo.workdir / filename.parent
-            if not workdir.exists():
-                return
             await init_python_folder(workdir)
 
     async def _is_fixbug(self) -> bool:
diff --git a/metagpt/utils/common.py b/metagpt/utils/common.py
index fd7fdcb7a..db1831aad 100644
--- a/metagpt/utils/common.py
+++ b/metagpt/utils/common.py
@@ -894,6 +894,11 @@ def get_project_srcs_path(workdir: str | Path) -> Path:
 
 
 async def init_python_folder(workdir: str | Path):
+    if not workdir:
+        return
+    workdir = Path(workdir)
+    if not workdir.exists():
+        return
     init_filename = Path(workdir) / "__init__.py"
     if init_filename.exists():
         return