diff --git a/scripts/lib/install b/scripts/lib/install
index 7c68de20fc..e3abb59ff6 100755
--- a/scripts/lib/install
+++ b/scripts/lib/install
@@ -66,7 +66,10 @@ ln -nsf /etc/zulip/settings.py "$deploy_path"/zproject/local_settings.py
 mkdir -p "$deploy_path"/prod-static/serve
 cp -rT "$deploy_path"/prod-static/serve /home/zulip/prod-static
 chown -R zulip:zulip /home/zulip /var/log/zulip /etc/zulip/settings.py
-chown zulip:zulip /var/run/supervisor.sock
+if [ -e "/var/run/supervisor.sock" ]; then
+    # If supervisor isn't running, no need to chown its socket
+    chown zulip:zulip /var/run/supervisor.sock
+fi
 
 cd /home/zulip/deployments/current
 
diff --git a/scripts/setup/postgres-init-db b/scripts/setup/postgres-init-db
index 5e0d3ba8be..9cecea8be2 100755
--- a/scripts/setup/postgres-init-db
+++ b/scripts/setup/postgres-init-db
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@ set -e
 set -x
 
 # Shut down all services to ensure a quiescent state.
-supervisorctl stop all
+if [ -e "/var/run/supervisor.sock" ]; then
+    supervisorctl stop all
+fi
 
 # Drop any open connections to any old database.  Hackishly call using
 # source because postgres user can't read /root/zulip/scripts/setup.