diff --git a/roles/people/files/make-people-page.py b/roles/people/files/make-people-page.py
index dcfe66f87b..07dcae7a1e 100644
--- a/roles/people/files/make-people-page.py
+++ b/roles/people/files/make-people-page.py
@@ -184,6 +184,7 @@ with open(out_file, 'w') as handle:
 out_file_uid = os.stat(out_file).st_uid
 
 # give write permissions to group
-os.chmod(out_file, stat.S_IWGRP)
+st = os.stat(out_file)
+os.chmod(out_file, st.st_mode | stat.S_IWGRP)
 # chown out file to group
 os.chown(out_file, out_file_uid, out_file_grp)