Abstract We report for the first time the direct growth of molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) monolayers on nanostructured silicon-on-insulator waveguides. Our results indicate the possibility of utilizing the Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) on nanostructured photonic devices in a scalable process. Direct growth of 2D material on nanostructures rectifies many drawbacks of the transfer-based approaches. We show that the van der Waals material grow conformally across the curves, edges, and the silicon–SiO₂ interface of the waveguide structure. Here, the waveguide structure used as a growth substrate is complex not just in terms of its geometry but also due to the two materials (Si and SiO₂) involved. A transfer-free method like this yields a novel approach for functionalizing nanostructured, integrated optical architectures with an optically active direct semiconductor.