diff --git a/entrypoint.sh b/entrypoint.sh
index 140d226..9d0b6d2 100755
--- a/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/entrypoint.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ assert(){ [[ $? -eq 0 ]] || { [[ -n ${1} ]] && echo ${@} ; exit 1 ; } }
 # slapd is absurdly high. See https://github.com/docker/docker/issues/8231
 ulimit -n 8192
 
+chown -R openldap:openldap /var/lib/ldap
+assert "FATAL: could not set required directory permissions"
+
 slapd -u openldap -g openldap -h ldapi:///
 assert "FATAL: sldapd died unexpectedly!"