diff --git a/client/ayon_core/hosts/houdini/plugins/publish/collect_frames.py b/client/ayon_core/hosts/houdini/plugins/publish/collect_frames.py
index b38ebc6e2f..6cd6e7456a 100644
--- a/client/ayon_core/hosts/houdini/plugins/publish/collect_frames.py
+++ b/client/ayon_core/hosts/houdini/plugins/publish/collect_frames.py
@@ -60,7 +60,10 @@ class CollectFrames(pyblish.api.InstancePlugin):
 
         # todo: `frames` currently conflicts with "explicit frames" for a
         #       for a custom frame list. So this should be refactored.
-        instance.data.update({"frames": result})
+        instance.data.update({
+            "frames": result,
+            "stagingDir": os.path.dirname(output)
+        })
 
     @staticmethod
     def create_file_list(match, start_frame, end_frame):