diff --git a/instcopy.c b/instcopy.c
index 5e3b245..a1270ce 100644
--- a/instcopy.c
+++ b/instcopy.c
@@ -31,8 +31,6 @@ void hier_h(const char *home,num mode)
   if (mkdir(home,0700) == -1)
     if (errno != EEXIST)
       strerr_die4sys(111,FATAL,"unable to mkdir ",home,": ");
-  if (chmod(home,mode) == -1)
-    strerr_die4sys(111,FATAL,"unable to chmod ",home,": ");
 }
 
 void hier_d(const char *home,const char *subdir,num mode)
@@ -42,8 +40,6 @@ void hier_d(const char *home,const char *subdir,num mode)
   if (mkdir(subdir,0700) == -1)
     if (errno != EEXIST)
       strerr_die6sys(111,FATAL,"unable to mkdir ",home,"/",subdir,": ");
-  if (chmod(subdir,mode) == -1)
-    strerr_die6sys(111,FATAL,"unable to chmod ",home,"/",subdir,": ");
 }
 
 static char inbuf_space[INBUF_SIZE];