diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 7788121e1..867b2040d 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -661,7 +661,7 @@ AC_CHECK_FUNC(
 	]
 )
 
-AC_CHECK_FUNCS(prctl mallinfo getpass closefrom getpwnam_r getgrnam_r getpwuid_r)
+AC_CHECK_FUNCS(prctl mallinfo getpass closefrom getpwnam_r getgrnam_r getpwuid_r chown)
 AC_CHECK_FUNCS(fmemopen funopen mmap memrchr setlinebuf strptime dirfd sigwaitinfo explicit_bzero)
 
 AC_CHECK_FUNC([syslog], [
diff --git a/src/libcharon/bus/listeners/file_logger.c b/src/libcharon/bus/listeners/file_logger.c
index d1f180227..704c4a510 100644
--- a/src/libcharon/bus/listeners/file_logger.c
+++ b/src/libcharon/bus/listeners/file_logger.c
@@ -243,6 +243,25 @@ METHOD(file_logger_t, open_, void,
 				 this->filename, strerror(errno));
 			return;
 		}
+#ifdef HAVE_CHOWN
+		if (lib->caps->check(lib->caps, CAP_CHOWN))
+		{
+			if (chown(this->filename, lib->caps->get_uid(lib->caps),
+					  lib->caps->get_gid(lib->caps)) != 0)
+			{
+				DBG1(DBG_NET, "changing owner/group for '%s' failed: %s",
+					 this->filename, strerror(errno));
+			}
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			if (chown(this->filename, -1, lib->caps->get_gid(lib->caps)) != 0)
+			{
+				DBG1(DBG_NET, "changing group for '%s' failed: %s",
+					 this->filename, strerror(errno));
+			}
+		}
+#endif /* HAVE_CHOWN */
 #ifdef HAVE_SETLINEBUF
 		if (flush_line)
 		{