diff --git a/inc/Extension/PluginController.php b/inc/Extension/PluginController.php
index 42aeac498..55fd299d8 100644
--- a/inc/Extension/PluginController.php
+++ b/inc/Extension/PluginController.php
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ class PluginController
                 $backup = $file . '.bak';
                 if (file_exists($backup)) @unlink($backup);
                 if (!@copy($file, $backup)) return false;
-                if (!empty($conf['fperm'])) chmod($backup, $conf['fperm']);
+                if ($conf['fperm']) chmod($backup, $conf['fperm']);
             }
             //check if can open for writing, else restore
             return io_saveFile($file, $out);
diff --git a/inc/Search/Indexer.php b/inc/Search/Indexer.php
index a29e5b28b..b6d9790f3 100644
--- a/inc/Search/Indexer.php
+++ b/inc/Search/Indexer.php
@@ -942,7 +942,7 @@ class Indexer {
                 return false;
             }
         }
-        if (!empty($conf['dperm'])) {
+        if ($conf['dperm']) {
             chmod($lock, $conf['dperm']);
         }
         return $status;
diff --git a/inc/Subscriptions/BulkSubscriptionSender.php b/inc/Subscriptions/BulkSubscriptionSender.php
index 672ef90f6..7341cd0a5 100644
--- a/inc/Subscriptions/BulkSubscriptionSender.php
+++ b/inc/Subscriptions/BulkSubscriptionSender.php
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ class BulkSubscriptionSender extends SubscriptionSender
             return false;
         }
 
-        if (!empty($conf['dperm'])) {
+        if ($conf['dperm']) {
             chmod($lock, $conf['dperm']);
         }
         return true;
diff --git a/inc/init.php b/inc/init.php
index 5cf1b56e9..059d7060a 100644
--- a/inc/init.php
+++ b/inc/init.php
@@ -402,8 +402,9 @@ function init_creationmodes(){
     unset($conf['dmask']);
     unset($conf['fmask']);
     unset($conf['umask']);
-    unset($conf['fperm']);
-    unset($conf['dperm']);
+
+    $conf['fperm'] = false;
+    $conf['dperm'] = false;
 
     // get system umask, fallback to 0 if none available
     $umask = @umask();
diff --git a/inc/io.php b/inc/io.php
index 1dfabe845..18eff6858 100644
--- a/inc/io.php
+++ b/inc/io.php
@@ -410,7 +410,7 @@ function io_lock($file){
         if ((time() - $timeStart) > 3) break;
         $locked = @mkdir($lockDir, $conf['dmode']);
         if($locked){
-            if(!empty($conf['dperm'])) chmod($lockDir, $conf['dperm']);
+            if($conf['dperm']) chmod($lockDir, $conf['dperm']);
             break;
         }
         usleep(50);