--- a/ipkg-build
+++ b/ipkg-build
@@ -249,7 +249,8 @@ tmp_dir=$dest_dir/IPKG_BUILD.$$
 mkdir $tmp_dir
 
 echo $CONTROL > $tmp_dir/tarX
-( cd $pkg_dir && $TAR $ogargs -X $tmp_dir/tarX -czf $tmp_dir/data.tar.gz . )
+# Preserve permissions (-p) when creating data.tar.gz as non-root user
+( cd $pkg_dir && $TAR $ogargs -X $tmp_dir/tarX -czpf $tmp_dir/data.tar.gz . )
 
 installed_size=`du -b $tmp_dir/data.tar.gz | cut -f1`
 sed -i -e "s/^Installed-Size: .*/Installed-Size: $installed_size/" \