diff --git a/basedirs/basedirs_test.go b/basedirs/basedirs_test.go
index fb2394aa..00f2b30f 100644
--- a/basedirs/basedirs_test.go
+++ b/basedirs/basedirs_test.go
@@ -836,8 +836,7 @@ func TestBaseDirs(t *testing.T) {
 						mainTable[0].DateNoSpace = time.Time{}
 						mainTable[0].DateNoFiles = time.Time{}
 
-						So(len(mainTable), ShouldEqual, 7)
-						So(mainTable, ShouldResemble, []*Usage{
+						mainTableExpectation := []*Usage{
 							{
 								Name: "group1", GID: 1, UIDs: []uint32{101}, Owner: "Alan", BaseDir: projectA,
 								UsageSize: twoGig + halfGig*2, QuotaSize: fiveGig,
@@ -873,8 +872,25 @@ func TestBaseDirs(t *testing.T) {
 								UsageSize: 60, QuotaSize: 500, UsageInodes: 1,
 								QuotaInodes: 50, Mtime: expectedMtime,
 							},
+						}
+
+						sort.Slice(mainTable, func(i, j int) bool {
+							return bytes.Compare(
+								idToByteSlice(mainTable[i].GID),
+								idToByteSlice(mainTable[j].GID),
+							) != -1
+						})
+
+						sort.Slice(mainTableExpectation, func(i, j int) bool {
+							return bytes.Compare(
+								idToByteSlice(mainTableExpectation[i].GID),
+								idToByteSlice(mainTableExpectation[j].GID),
+							) != -1
 						})
 
+						So(len(mainTable), ShouldEqual, 7)
+						So(mainTable, ShouldResemble, mainTableExpectation)
+
 						history, err := bdr.History(1, projectA)
 						fixHistoryTimes(history)
 
diff --git a/ch/ch.go b/ch/ch.go
index 082a890c..e9883bd0 100644
--- a/ch/ch.go
+++ b/ch/ch.go
@@ -191,6 +191,10 @@ func groupName(gid int) (string, error) {
 }
 
 func (c *Ch) chmod(rule *Rule, path string, info fs.FileInfo) error {
+	if info.Mode()&fs.ModeSymlink == fs.ModeSymlink {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	currentPerms := info.Mode()
 
 	var desiredPerms fs.FileMode
@@ -205,7 +209,7 @@ func (c *Ch) chmod(rule *Rule, path string, info fs.FileInfo) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	if err := chmod(info, path, desiredPerms); err != nil {
+	if err := os.Chmod(path, desiredPerms); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -213,13 +217,3 @@ func (c *Ch) chmod(rule *Rule, path string, info fs.FileInfo) error {
 
 	return nil
 }
-
-// chmod is like os.Chmod, but checks the given info to do nothing if this is a
-// symlink.
-func chmod(info fs.FileInfo, path string, mode fs.FileMode) error {
-	if info.Mode()&os.ModeSymlink == os.ModeSymlink {
-		return nil
-	}
-
-	return os.Chmod(path, mode)
-}
diff --git a/ch/ch_test.go b/ch/ch_test.go
index 49e3ae63..15ca5090 100644
--- a/ch/ch_test.go
+++ b/ch/ch_test.go
@@ -179,6 +179,32 @@ func TestCh(t *testing.T) {
 				So(err.Error(), ShouldContainSubstring, "2 errors occurred")
 			})
 
+			Convey("Do on a symlink doesn't try to change permissions", func() {
+				mySymlink := filepath.Join(dir, "mySymlink")
+
+				err := os.Symlink("non-existent-target", mySymlink)
+				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+
+				info, err := os.Lstat(mySymlink)
+				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+
+				err = ch.Do(mySymlink, info)
+				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+				So(buff.String(), ShouldNotContainSubstring, `lvl=info msg="set permissions" path=`)
+
+				createTestFile(t, filepath.Join(dir, "a"), otherGID, 0755)
+
+				err = os.Remove(mySymlink)
+				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+
+				err = os.Symlink("a", mySymlink)
+				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+
+				err = ch.Do(mySymlink, info)
+				So(err, ShouldBeNil)
+				So(buff.String(), ShouldNotContainSubstring, `lvl=info msg="set permissions" path=`)
+			})
+
 			Convey("chownGroup applies to symlinks themselves, not their targets", func() {
 				path := filepath.Join(dir, "e")
 				slink := filepath.Join(dir, "f")
@@ -198,20 +224,6 @@ func TestCh(t *testing.T) {
 
 				_, gid := getIDsFromFileInfo(info)
 				So(gid, ShouldEqual, otherGID)
-
-				Convey("chmod ignores symlinks but works on real files", func() {
-					err = chmod(info, slink, 0670)
-					So(err, ShouldBeNil)
-
-					info, err = os.Lstat(path)
-					So(info.Mode().Perm(), ShouldEqual, fs.FileMode(0660))
-
-					err = chmod(info, path, 0670)
-					So(err, ShouldBeNil)
-
-					info, err = os.Lstat(path)
-					So(info.Mode().Perm(), ShouldEqual, fs.FileMode(0670))
-				})
 			})
 		})
 	})