diff --git a/cdist/conf/type/__git/gencode-remote b/cdist/conf/type/__git/gencode-remote
index 11bd0a00..edc25aae 100755
--- a/cdist/conf/type/__git/gencode-remote
+++ b/cdist/conf/type/__git/gencode-remote
@@ -38,9 +38,13 @@ mode=$(cat "$__object/parameter/mode")
 [ -f "$__object/parameter/recursive" ] && recursive='--recurse-submodules' || recursive=''
 [ -f "$__object/parameter/shallow" ] && shallow='--depth 1 --shallow-submodules' || shallow=''
 
+if { [ -n "$owner" ] && [ "$owner_is" != "$owner" ]; } || \
+   { [ -n "$group" ] && [ "$group_is" != "$group" ]; }; then
+    needs_chown="YES"
+fi
+
 [ "$state_should" = "$state_is" ] \
- && [ "$owner" = "$owner_is" ] \
- && [ "$group" = "$group_is" ] \
+ && [ -z "$needs_chown" ] \
  && [ -n "$mode" ] && exit 0
 
 case $state_should in
@@ -48,8 +52,7 @@ case $state_should in
         if [ "$state_should" != "$state_is" ]; then
             echo git clone --quiet "$recursive" "$shallow" --branch "$branch" "$source" "$destination"
         fi
-        if { [ -n "$owner" ] && [ "$owner_is" != "$owner" ]; } || \
-           { [ -n "$group" ] && [ "$group_is" != "$group" ]; }; then
+        if [ -n "$needs_chown" ]; then
             echo chown -R "${owner}:${group}" "$destination"
         fi
         if [ -f "$__object/parameter/mode-recursive" ]; then