diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index d382dbd8..a419ace1 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+notmuch (0.17-5) unstable; urgency=medium
+
+  * Bug fix: "unowned directory after purge: /0755/", thanks to
+    Andreas Beckmann (Closes: #740325).
+
+ -- David Bremner <bremner@debian.org>  Mon, 03 Mar 2014 07:29:06 -0400
+
 notmuch (0.17-4) unstable; urgency=medium
 
   * Bug fix: "Please update ruby binary extension install path",
diff --git a/debian/notmuch-emacs.postinst b/debian/notmuch-emacs.postinst
index 48ecf231..1237237d 100644
--- a/debian/notmuch-emacs.postinst
+++ b/debian/notmuch-emacs.postinst
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 dir="/var/lib/emacsen-common/state/package/installed"
-mkdir -p 0755 ${dir}
+mkdir -p -m 0755 ${dir}
 touch ${dir}/notmuch-emacs
 #DEBHELPER#
+if [ -d /0755 ]; then
+   rmdir /0755 || true
+fi