diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/epub/__init__.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/epub/__init__.py
index 53dd01d625..3c70625e91 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/epub/__init__.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/epub/__init__.py
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ def initialize_container(path_to_container, opf_name='metadata.opf',
     '''.format(opf_name, extra_entries=rootfiles).encode('utf-8')
     zf = ZipFile(path_to_container, 'w')
     zf.writestr('mimetype', 'application/epub+zip', compression=ZIP_STORED)
-    zf.writestr('META-INF/', '', 0700)
+    zf.writestr('META-INF/', '', 0755)
     zf.writestr('META-INF/container.xml', CONTAINER)
     for path, _, data in extra_entries:
         zf.writestr(path, data)
diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/zipfile.py b/src/calibre/utils/zipfile.py
index 769c3e9bed..66591302fb 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/zipfile.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/zipfile.py
@@ -1297,9 +1297,7 @@ class ZipFile:
         Add a directory recursively to the zip file with an optional prefix.
         '''
         if prefix:
-            zi = ZipInfo(prefix+'/')
-            zi.external_attr = 16
-            self.writestr(zi, '')
+            self.writestr(prefix+'/', '', 0755)
         cwd = os.path.abspath(os.getcwd())
         try:
             os.chdir(path)