diff --git a/pkg/compose/create.go b/pkg/compose/create.go
index b815cb66..a5aa9f9e 100644
--- a/pkg/compose/create.go
+++ b/pkg/compose/create.go
@@ -167,14 +167,25 @@ func (s *composeService) ensureProjectVolumes(ctx context.Context, project *type
 					if !filepath.IsAbs(p) {
 						return fmt.Errorf("file share path is not absolute: %s", p)
 					}
-					if _, err := os.Stat(p); errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
+					if fi, err := os.Stat(p); errors.Is(err, fs.ErrNotExist) {
+						// actual directory will be implicitly created when the
+						// file share is initialized if it doesn't exist, so
+						// need to filter out any that should not be auto-created
 						if vol.Bind != nil && !vol.Bind.CreateHostPath {
-							return fmt.Errorf("service %s: host path %q does not exist and `create_host_path` is false", svcName, vol.Source)
-						}
-						if err := os.MkdirAll(p, 0o755); err != nil {
-							return fmt.Errorf("creating host path: %w", err)
+							logrus.Debugf("Skipping creating file share for %q: does not exist and `create_host_path` is false", p)
+							continue
 						}
+					} else if err != nil {
+						// if we can't read the path, we won't be able ot make
+						// a file share for it
+						logrus.Debugf("Skipping creating file share for %q: %v", p, err)
+						continue
+					} else if !fi.IsDir() {
+						// ignore files & special types (e.g. Unix sockets)
+						logrus.Debugf("Skipping creating file share for %q: not a directory", p)
+						continue
 					}
+
 					paths = append(paths, p)
 				}
 			}
@@ -185,14 +196,14 @@ func (s *composeService) ensureProjectVolumes(ctx context.Context, project *type
 
 			fileShareManager := desktop.NewFileShareManager(s.desktopCli, project.Name, paths)
 			if err := fileShareManager.EnsureExists(ctx); err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("initializing: %w", err)
+				return fmt.Errorf("initializing file shares: %w", err)
 			}
 		}
 		return nil
 	}()
 
 	if err != nil {
-		progress.ContextWriter(ctx).TailMsgf("Failed to prepare Synchronized File Shares: %v", err)
+		progress.ContextWriter(ctx).TailMsgf("Failed to prepare Synchronized file shares: %v", err)
 	}
 	return nil
 }