diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/zipfile.py b/src/calibre/utils/zipfile.py
index 02f7eac5c4..ff31210444 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/zipfile.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/zipfile.py
@@ -1028,11 +1028,13 @@ class ZipFile:
 
         # Create all upper directories if necessary.
         upperdirs = os.path.dirname(targetpath)
+        if upperdirs and not os.path.isdir(upperdirs):
+            os.unlink(upperdirs)
         if upperdirs and not os.path.exists(upperdirs):
             os.makedirs(upperdirs)
-
+        
         source = self.open(member, pwd=pwd)
-        target = file(targetpath, "wb")
+        target = open(targetpath, "wb")
         shutil.copyfileobj(source, target)
         source.close()
         target.close()