diff --git a/admin/include/updates.class.php b/admin/include/updates.class.php
index 18ca8d7ca0..8d24f6987b 100644
--- a/admin/include/updates.class.php
+++ b/admin/include/updates.class.php
@@ -463,12 +463,15 @@ static function upgrade_to($upgrade_to, &$step, $check_current_version=true)
       redirect(get_root_url().'admin.php?page=plugin-'.basename(dirname(__FILE__)));
     }
 
+    $obsolete_list = null;
+
     if ($step == 2)
     {
       $code = get_branch_from_version(PHPWG_VERSION).'.x_to_'.$upgrade_to;
       $dl_code = str_replace(array('.', '_'), '', $code);
       $remove_path = $code;
-      $obsolete_list = 'obsolete.list';
+      // no longer try to delete files on a minor upgrade
+      // $obsolete_list = 'obsolete.list';
     }
     else
     {
@@ -542,7 +545,11 @@ static function upgrade_to($upgrade_to, &$step, $check_current_version=true)
 
           if (empty($error))
           {
-            self::process_obsolete_list($obsolete_list);
+            if (!empty($obsolete_list))
+            {
+              self::process_obsolete_list($obsolete_list);
+            }
+
             deltree(PHPWG_ROOT_PATH.$conf['data_location'].'update');
             invalidate_user_cache(true);
             if ($step == 2)