diff -Nru sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/changelog sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/changelog
--- sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/changelog	2012-03-13 02:03:14.000000000 -0400
+++ sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/changelog	2012-04-12 19:23:24.000000000 -0400
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+sysvinit (2.88dsf-22.1gilbert1) unstable; urgency=low
+
+  * Only set up old initctl symlink if the file already existed
+    (closes: #596284).
+
+ -- Michael Gilbert <mgilbert@debian.org>  Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:22:12 -0400
+
 sysvinit (2.88dsf-22.1) unstable; urgency=low
 
   * Non-maintainer upload.
diff -Nru sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/postinst sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/postinst
--- sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/postinst	2012-01-27 18:49:07.000000000 -0500
+++ sysvinit-2.88dsf/debian/postinst	2012-04-12 19:22:05.000000000 -0400
@@ -36,8 +36,10 @@
 	mkfifo -m 600 $INITCTL
 
 	# Replace existing control channel with symlink
-	ln -s "$INITCTL" "$OLDINITCTL.new"
-	mv "$OLDINITCTL.new" "$OLDINITCTL"
+	if [ -e "$OLDINITCTL" ]; then
+		ln -s "$INITCTL" "$OLDINITCTL.new"
+		mv "$OLDINITCTL.new" "$OLDINITCTL"
+	fi
 
 	# Reopen control channel (uses new channel).
 	if ! ischroot