diff --git a/devstack/components/horizon.py b/devstack/components/horizon.py
index a11aa7cd..5ac16150 100644
--- a/devstack/components/horizon.py
+++ b/devstack/components/horizon.py
@@ -191,16 +191,14 @@ class HorizonInstaller(comp.PythonInstallComponent):
             sh.root_mode()
             #fix the socket prefix to someplace we can use
             socket_conf = "/etc/httpd/conf.d/wsgi_socket_prefix.conf"
-            wsgi_socket_loc = self.log_dir
+            wsgi_socket_loc = sh.joinpths(self.log_dir, "wsgi-socket")
             fc = "WSGISocketPrefix %s" % (wsgi_socket_loc)
             sh.write_file(socket_conf, fc)
-            #now write a file that changes the apache user and group ran with
-            user_conf = "/etc/httpd/conf.d/httpd_run_user.conf"
-            fc = '''
-User {user}
-Group {group}
-'''
-            sh.write_file(user_conf, fc.format(user=user, group=group))
+            #now adjust the run user and group
+            cmd = ['perl', '-p', '-i', '-e', "'s/^User.*/User " + user + "/g'", '/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf']
+            sh.execute(*cmd, run_as_root=True)
+            cmd = ['perl', '-p', '-i', '-e', "'s/^Group.*/Group " + group + "/g'", '/etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf']
+            sh.execute(*cmd, run_as_root=True)
         finally:
             sh.user_mode()
 
diff --git a/devstack/shell.py b/devstack/shell.py
index 0121674e..63f90a0d 100644
--- a/devstack/shell.py
+++ b/devstack/shell.py
@@ -496,12 +496,15 @@ def got_root():
 
 def root_mode():
     uid_gid = (getuid(ROOT_USER), getgid(ROOT_USER))
-    try:
-        LOG.debug("Escalating permissions to (user=%s, group=%s)" % (uid_gid[0], uid_gid[1]))
-        os.setreuid(0, uid_gid[0])
-        os.setregid(0, uid_gid[1])
-    except:
-        LOG.warn("Cannot escalate permissions to (user=%s, group=%s)" % (uid_gid[0], uid_gid[1]))
+    if uid_gid[0] is None or uid_gid[1] is None:
+        LOG.warn("Cannot escalate permissions to (user=%s) - does that user exist??" % (ROOT_USER))
+    else:
+        try:
+            LOG.debug("Escalating permissions to (user=%s, group=%s)" % (uid_gid[0], uid_gid[1]))
+            os.setreuid(0, uid_gid[0])
+            os.setregid(0, uid_gid[1])
+        except:
+            LOG.warn("Cannot escalate permissions to (user=%s, group=%s)" % (uid_gid[0], uid_gid[1]))
 
 
 def user_mode():
@@ -513,6 +516,8 @@ def user_mode():
             os.setreuid(0, int(sudo_uid))
         except OSError:
             LOG.warn("Cannot drop permissions to (user=%s, group=%s)" % (sudo_uid, sudo_gid))
+    else:
+        LOG.warn("Can not switch to user mode, no suid user id or group id")
 
 
 def geteuid():