diff --git a/debian/postinst b/debian/postinst
index befcb3cb2..0682cfa5f 100755
--- a/debian/postinst
+++ b/debian/postinst
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ case "$1" in
     configure)
         addgroup --system --quiet plinth
         adduser --system --quiet --ingroup plinth --no-create-home --home /var/lib/plinth plinth
-        chown -R plinth: /var/lib/plinth
+        chown plinth: /var/lib/plinth
+        chown plinth: /var/lib/plinth/sessions
 
         if [ ! -e '/var/lib/freedombox/is-freedombox-disk-image' ]; then
             umask 377