diff --git a/ruby.changes b/ruby.changes
index e8713ff..a437220 100644
--- a/ruby.changes
+++ b/ruby.changes
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+Tue Jun 25 09:02:48 UTC 2013 - coolo@suse.com
+
+- remove --force usage in favor of portable rm (SLE11)
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
 Tue Jun  4 17:04:50 UTC 2013 - coolo@suse.com
 
diff --git a/ruby.spec b/ruby.spec
index 06e8ab5..162768e 100644
--- a/ruby.spec
+++ b/ruby.spec
@@ -94,7 +94,9 @@ install -D -m 0644 %{S:2} $RPM_BUILD_ROOT/etc/gemrc
 
 %post
 for bin in erb gem irb rake rdoc ri ruby testrb; do
-  /usr/sbin/update-alternatives --force --install \
+  # remove non-links or old binaries will stay around forever
+  test -L %{_bindir}/$bin || rm -v %{_bindir}/$bin
+  /usr/sbin/update-alternatives --install \
     %{_bindir}/$bin $bin %{_bindir}/$bin"2.0" 20
 done