diff --git a/rakefile b/rakefile
index 6442d60957..dff41fbe4e 100644
--- a/rakefile
+++ b/rakefile
@@ -112,6 +112,24 @@ task :package do
     FileUtils.mkdir_p(BUILD_DIR)
     
     Dir.chdir(BUILD_DIR) do
+        afterremove = Tempfile.new('afterremove')
+        afterremove.write <<-AFTERREMOVE.gsub(/^\s*/, '')
+        #! /bin/sh
+        set -e
+        set -x
+        
+        # to be a little safer this rm is executed
+        # as the makeitso user and is careful
+        # about what it removes
+
+        if [ -d #{INSTALL_DIR_PATH} ]; then
+            sudo -u makeitso rm -rf #{INSTALL_DIR_PATH}/{common,cms,lms,*.pyc}
+            sudo -u makeitso rmdir #{INSTALL_DIR_PATH} 
+        fi
+
+        AFTERREMOVE
+        afterremove.close()
+        FileUtils.chmod(0755, afterremove.path)
 
         postinstall = Tempfile.new('postinstall')
         postinstall.write <<-POSTINSTALL.gsub(/^\s*/, '')
@@ -137,6 +155,7 @@ task :package do
         args = ["fakeroot", "fpm", "-s", "dir", "-t", "deb",
             "--verbose",
             "--after-install=#{postinstall.path}",
+            "--after-remove=#{afterremove.path}",
             "--prefix=#{INSTALL_DIR_PATH}",
             "--exclude=**/build/**",
             "--exclude=**/rakefile",