diff --git a/dpkg.spec b/dpkg.spec
index ce76baa..2973b94 100644
--- a/dpkg.spec
+++ b/dpkg.spec
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #
 # spec file for package dpkg
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2020 SUSE LLC
+# Copyright (c) 2021 SUSE LLC
 #
 # All modifications and additions to the file contributed by third parties
 # remain the property of their copyright owners, unless otherwise agreed
diff --git a/update-alternatives-slavetomaster.patch b/update-alternatives-slavetomaster.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aaf40b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/update-alternatives-slavetomaster.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+Index: dpkg-1.19.0.5/utils/update-alternatives.c
+===================================================================
+--- dpkg-1.19.0.5.orig/utils/update-alternatives.c
++++ dpkg-1.19.0.5/utils/update-alternatives.c
+@@ -1796,7 +1796,10 @@ alternative_prepare_install(struct alter
+ 		/* Drop unused slave. */
+ 		fn = xasprintf("%s/%s", altdir, sl->name);
+ 		if (alternative_path_can_remove(sl->link))
+-			alternative_add_commit_op(a, OPCODE_RM, sl->link, NULL);
++			if (strcmp(sl->link, a->master_link))
++				alternative_add_commit_op(a, OPCODE_RM, sl->link, NULL);
++			else
++				warning("not removing %s, now master", a->master_link);
+ 		else
+ 			warning(_("not removing %s since it's not a symlink"),
+ 			        sl->link);
diff --git a/update-alternatives.changes b/update-alternatives.changes
index 47efb05..7462228 100644
--- a/update-alternatives.changes
+++ b/update-alternatives.changes
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+Thu Jan 14 09:33:00 UTC 2021 - Ludwig Nussel <lnussel@suse.de>
+
+- don't remove slave links that turned into master. Happens on usrmerge
+  (boo#1180939, update-alternatives-slavetomaster.patch)
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
 Tue Apr  2 20:04:25 UTC 2019 - Andreas Schwab <schwab@suse.de>
 
diff --git a/update-alternatives.spec b/update-alternatives.spec
index 273f71c..c491de5 100644
--- a/update-alternatives.spec
+++ b/update-alternatives.spec
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #
 # spec file for package update-alternatives
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2020 SUSE LLC
+# Copyright (c) 2021 SUSE LLC
 #
 # All modifications and additions to the file contributed by third parties
 # remain the property of their copyright owners, unless otherwise agreed
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ URL:            http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/d/dpkg/
 Source0:        http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/main/d/dpkg/dpkg_%{version}.tar.xz
 Source3:        sensible-editor
 Patch0:         update-alternatives-suse.patch
+Patch1:         update-alternatives-slavetomaster.patch
 BuildRequires:  autoconf
 BuildRequires:  automake
 BuildRequires:  libtool
@@ -45,8 +46,7 @@ make a good choice of editor to invoke if the user has not specified a
 particular preference.
 
 %prep
-%setup -q -n dpkg-%{version}
-%patch0 -p1
+%autosetup -p1 -n dpkg-%{version}
 
 %build
 %global _lto_cflags %{_lto_cflags} -ffat-lto-objects