diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 838277b1..5c6cce9c 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 byobu (4.11) unreleased; urgency=low
 
-  * UNRELEASED
+  * debian/postinst:
+    - handle ownerships of the reload profile flag more gracefully
 
  -- Dustin Kirkland <kirkland@ubuntu.com>  Sat, 11 Jun 2011 09:42:07 -0400
 
diff --git a/debian/postinst b/debian/postinst
index 42957c0e..a367da01 100644
--- a/debian/postinst
+++ b/debian/postinst
@@ -30,8 +30,7 @@ if [ -d "$DIR" ]; then
 	for d in "$DIR"/*; do
 		[ -d "$d" ] || continue
 		touch "$d/$PKG.reload-required"
-		u=$(echo "$d" | sed "s:^.*/S-::")
-		chown $u "$d/$PKG.reload-required"
+		chown --reference "$d" "$d/$PKG.reload-required" || true
 		chmod 700 "$d/$PKG.reload-required"
 	done
 fi