diff --git a/debian/gitlab.postinst b/debian/gitlab.postinst
index bd564d5b3a..14af477ff3 100755
--- a/debian/gitlab.postinst
+++ b/debian/gitlab.postinst
@@ -107,15 +107,13 @@ case "$1" in
     done
 
     # nginx/httpd should be able to connect to gitlab-workhorse.socket and serve public
-    chown ${gitlab_user}:${nginx_user} -R ${gitlab_uploads_path}/.. ${gitlab_pid_path}
+    chown ${gitlab_user}:${nginx_user} ${gitlab_uploads_path}/../* ${gitlab_pid_path}
     
     # Customize permissions
     echo "Updating file permissions..."
-    chmod -R ug+rwX,o-rwx ${gitlab_repo_path}/
-    chmod -R ug-s ${gitlab_repo_path}/
-    find ${gitlab_repo_path}/ -type d -print0 | xargs -0 chmod g+s
+    chmod ug+rwX,o-rwx,u-s,g+s ${gitlab_repo_path}/
     for i in ${gitlab_data_dir} ${gitlab_shell_root}; do
-      chown -R ${gitlab_user}: $i
+      chown ${gitlab_user}: $i
     done
 
     runuser -u ${gitlab_user} -- sh -c "chmod 700 ${gitlab_uploads_path}"