diff --git a/debian/scripts/postrm b/debian/scripts/postrm
index a768a036c..ecfaf7c5f 100755
--- a/debian/scripts/postrm
+++ b/debian/scripts/postrm
@@ -1,14 +1,11 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
-# $1 is either "remove" or "purge". Since there are no config
-# files left after a remove, exit here if called with "purge".
-# This avoids calling userdel again which would cause an error.
-if [ "$1" = "purge" ]; then
-	exit 0;
-fi
-
 I2PUSER=i2psvc
-exec userdel $I2PUSER
+# delete $I2PUSER if it exists (it will not if this is a purge after a remove)
+id $I2PUSER 2>/dev/null
+if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
+    exec userdel $I2PUSER
+fi
 
 # if somebody did updates in-network, there may be new files that dpkg
 # doesn't know about, so just to be sure