diff --git a/nfq/nfqws.c b/nfq/nfqws.c
index 3cae8de..04578a0 100644
--- a/nfq/nfqws.c
+++ b/nfq/nfqws.c
@@ -1777,10 +1777,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 					exit_clean(1);
 				}
 				fclose(F);
-#ifndef __CYGWIN__
-				if (params.droproot && chown(optarg, params.uid, -1))
-					DLOG_ERR("could not chown %s. auto hostlist debug log may not be writable after privilege drop\n", optarg);
-#endif
 				strncpy(params.hostlist_auto_debuglog, optarg, sizeof(params.hostlist_auto_debuglog));
 				params.hostlist_auto_debuglog[sizeof(params.hostlist_auto_debuglog) - 1] = '\0';
 			}
@@ -2027,6 +2023,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 #ifndef __CYGWIN__
 	if (params.debug_target == LOG_TARGET_FILE && params.droproot && chown(params.debug_logfile, params.uid, -1))
 		fprintf(stderr, "could not chown %s. log file may not be writable after privilege drop\n", params.debug_logfile);
+	if (params.droproot && chown(params.hostlist_auto_debuglog, params.uid, -1))
+		DLOG_ERR("could not chown %s. auto hostlist debug log may not be writable after privilege drop\n", params.hostlist_auto_debuglog);
 #endif
 	LIST_FOREACH(dpl, &params.desync_profiles, next)
 	{