diff --git a/test/system/test.common b/test/system/test.common
index 43bf480..e4d9fb6 100644
--- a/test/system/test.common
+++ b/test/system/test.common
@@ -217,8 +217,8 @@ generate_chrony_conf() {
 
 	echo "0.0 10000" > "$TEST_LIBDIR/driftfile"
 	echo "1 MD5 abcdefghijklmnopq" > "$TEST_DIR/keys"
-	chown "$user:$(id -g "$user")" "$TEST_LIBDIR/driftfile" "$TEST_DIR/keys"
 	echo "0.0" > "$TEST_DIR/tempcomp"
+	chown "$user:$(id -g "$user")" "$TEST_LIBDIR/driftfile" "$TEST_DIR"/{keys,tempcomp}
 
 	(
 		echo "pidfile $(get_pidfile)"