diff --git a/lib/systemd/system/syncserver.service b/lib/systemd/system/syncserver.service
index 02c3a3b..8f49375 100644
--- a/lib/systemd/system/syncserver.service
+++ b/lib/systemd/system/syncserver.service
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Wants=network-online.target
 Type=simple
 User=syncserver
 Group=syncserver
+ExecStartPre=/bin/chown -R syncserver:syncserver /var/lib/syncserver
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/syncserver --config /etc/syncserver/config.yaml --data-dir /var/lib/syncserver
 Restart=on-failure
 RestartSec=5
diff --git a/packaging/debian/DEBIAN/postinst b/packaging/debian/DEBIAN/postinst
index 753fef5..4a024dd 100755
--- a/packaging/debian/DEBIAN/postinst
+++ b/packaging/debian/DEBIAN/postinst
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ case "$1" in
         install -d -o syncserver -g syncserver -m 0750 /var/lib/syncserver/data || true
         install -d -o syncserver -g syncserver -m 0750 /var/lib/syncserver/ssh || true
         install -d -o syncserver -g syncserver -m 0750 /var/lib/syncserver/logs || true
+        chown -R syncserver:syncserver /var/lib/syncserver
         install -d -o root -g root -m 0755 /etc/syncserver || true
 
         if [ ! -f /etc/syncserver/config.yaml ]; then
diff --git a/packaging/debian/lib/systemd/system/syncserver.service b/packaging/debian/lib/systemd/system/syncserver.service
index 02c3a3b..8f49375 100644
--- a/packaging/debian/lib/systemd/system/syncserver.service
+++ b/packaging/debian/lib/systemd/system/syncserver.service
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Wants=network-online.target
 Type=simple
 User=syncserver
 Group=syncserver
+ExecStartPre=/bin/chown -R syncserver:syncserver /var/lib/syncserver
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/syncserver --config /etc/syncserver/config.yaml --data-dir /var/lib/syncserver
 Restart=on-failure
 RestartSec=5