diff --git a/modules/md/mod_md_os.c b/modules/md/mod_md_os.c
index f96d566..8df0248 100644
--- a/modules/md/mod_md_os.c
+++ b/modules/md/mod_md_os.c
@@ -41,14 +41,20 @@
 
 apr_status_t md_try_chown(const char *fname, unsigned int uid, int gid, apr_pool_t *p)
 {
-#if AP_NEED_SET_MUTEX_PERMS
-    if (-1 == chown(fname, (uid_t)uid, (gid_t)gid)) {
-        apr_status_t rv = APR_FROM_OS_ERROR(errno);
-        if (!APR_STATUS_IS_ENOENT(rv)) {
-            ap_log_perror(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_ERR, rv, p, APLOGNO(10082)
-                         "Can't change owner of %s", fname);
+#if AP_NEED_SET_MUTEX_PERMS && HAVE_UNISTD_H
+    /* Since we only switch user when running as root, we only need to chown directories
+     * in that case. Otherwise, the server will ignore any "user/group" directives and
+     * child processes have the same privileges as the parent.
+     */
+    if (!geteuid()) {
+        if (-1 == chown(fname, (uid_t)uid, (gid_t)gid)) {
+            apr_status_t rv = APR_FROM_OS_ERROR(errno);
+            if (!APR_STATUS_IS_ENOENT(rv)) {
+                ap_log_perror(APLOG_MARK, APLOG_ERR, rv, p, APLOGNO(10082)
+                              "Can't change owner of %s", fname);
+            }
+            return rv;
         }
-        return rv;
     }
     return APR_SUCCESS;
 #else 
@@ -58,11 +64,7 @@ apr_status_t md_try_chown(const char *fname, unsigned int uid, int gid, apr_pool
 
 apr_status_t md_make_worker_accessible(const char *fname, apr_pool_t *p)
 {
-#if AP_NEED_SET_MUTEX_PERMS
     return md_try_chown(fname, ap_unixd_config.user_id, -1, p);
-#else 
-    return APR_ENOTIMPL;
-#endif
 }
 
 #ifdef WIN32