diff --git a/fs/reiserfs/xattr.c b/fs/reiserfs/xattr.c
index 4cce1d9552fbbcd5f23447245a8b6f942c6fe89c..821bcf70e467432e14868b0c5bb00cb1b6940598 100644
--- a/fs/reiserfs/xattr.c
+++ b/fs/reiserfs/xattr.c
@@ -318,7 +318,19 @@ static int delete_one_xattr(struct dentry *dentry, void *data)
 static int chown_one_xattr(struct dentry *dentry, void *data)
 {
 	struct iattr *attrs = data;
-	return reiserfs_setattr(dentry, attrs);
+	int ia_valid = attrs->ia_valid;
+	int err;
+
+	/*
+	 * We only want the ownership bits. Otherwise, we'll do
+	 * things like change a directory to a regular file if
+	 * ATTR_MODE is set.
+	 */
+	attrs->ia_valid &= (ATTR_UID|ATTR_GID);
+	err = reiserfs_setattr(dentry, attrs);
+	attrs->ia_valid = ia_valid;
+
+	return err;
 }
 
 /* No i_mutex, but the inode is unconnected. */
diff --git a/fs/reiserfs/xattr_acl.c b/fs/reiserfs/xattr_acl.c
index d7c01ef64edab42ed59d022a2cf36f917e1935c0..6c8767fdfc6a287b0a9d201b4048d89b06fecaad 100644
--- a/fs/reiserfs/xattr_acl.c
+++ b/fs/reiserfs/xattr_acl.c
@@ -443,6 +443,9 @@ int reiserfs_acl_chmod(struct inode *inode)
 	int depth;
 	int error;
 
+	if (IS_PRIVATE(inode))
+		return 0;
+
 	if (S_ISLNK(inode->i_mode))
 		return -EOPNOTSUPP;