diff --git a/ci/spec/pre b/ci/spec/pre
index 114ead96..65377ec1 100644
--- a/ci/spec/pre
+++ b/ci/spec/pre
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 %pre
 
 if [ x"$(which systemctl)" != x"" ]; then
-    systemctl stop cvmfs-gateway
+    if [ "x$(systemctl list-unit-files | grep cvmfs-gateway)" != "x" ]; then
+        systemctl stop cvmfs-gateway
+    fi
 else
-    /usr/libexec/cvmfs-gateway/scripts/run_cvmfs_gateway.sh stop
+    if [ -x /usr/libexec/cvmfs-gateway/scripts/run_cvmfs_gateway.sh ]; then
+        /usr/libexec/cvmfs-gateway/scripts/run_cvmfs_gateway.sh stop
+    fi
 fi
diff --git a/ci/spec/preun b/ci/spec/preun
index 7d0c94d9..5aed48ff 100644
--- a/ci/spec/preun
+++ b/ci/spec/preun
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
 %preun
 
 if [ x"$(which systemctl)" != x"" ]; then
-    systemctl stop cvmfs-gateway
+    if [ "x$(systemctl list-unit-files | greo cvmfs-gateway)" != "x" ]; then
+        systemctl stop cvmfs-gateway
+    fi
 else
-    /usr/libexec/cvmfs-gateway/scripts/run_cvmfs_gateway.sh stop
+    if [ -x /usr/libexec/cvmfs-gateway/scripts/run_cvmfs_gateway.sh ]; then
+        /usr/libexec/cvmfs-gateway/scripts/run_cvmfs_gateway.sh stop
+    fi
 fi