diff -ruNp sysvinit-2.96.orig/src/last.c sysvinit-2.96/src/last.c
--- sysvinit-2.96.orig/src/last.c	2019-09-11 19:43:12.000000000 +0200
+++ sysvinit-2.96/src/last.c	2019-12-01 05:14:37.344902512 +0100
@@ -44,6 +44,25 @@
 #include <arpa/inet.h>
 #include "oldutmp.h"
 
+/*
+ *	Try to be smart about the location of the BTMP file
+ */
+#ifndef _PATH_BTMP
+#define _PATH_BTMP "/var/log/btmp"
+#define BTMP_FILE _PATH_BTMP
+#endif
+
+#define TRANSFORM_UTMP_FILE_NAME(file_name) \
+	 ((strcmp (file_name, _PATH_WTMP) == 0 \
+	   && access ( _PATH_WTMP "x", F_OK) == 0) ? (_PATH_WTMP "x") : \
+	  ((strcmp (file_name, _PATH_BTMP) == 0 \
+	    && access ( _PATH_BTMP "x", F_OK) == 0) ? (_PATH_BTMP "x") : \
+	    ((strcmp (file_name, _PATH_WTMP "x") == 0 \
+	      && access (_PATH_WTMP "x", F_OK) != 0) ? _PATH_WTMP : \
+	     ((strcmp (file_name, _PATH_BTMP "x") == 0 \
+	       && access (_PATH_BTMP "x", F_OK) != 0) ? _PATH_BTMP : \
+	      file_name))))
+
 #ifndef SHUTDOWN_TIME
 #  define SHUTDOWN_TIME 254
 #endif
@@ -251,28 +270,6 @@ int uread(FILE *fp, struct utmp *u, int
 #endif
 
 /*
- *	Try to be smart about the location of the BTMP file
- */
-#ifndef BTMP_FILE
-#define BTMP_FILE getbtmp()
-char *getbtmp()
-{
-	static char btmp[PATH_MAX + 5];  /* max path + btmp + null terminator */
-	char *p;
-
-        memset(btmp, '\0', PATH_MAX + 5);
-	strncpy(btmp, WTMP_FILE, PATH_MAX);
-	if ((p = strrchr(btmp, '/')) == NULL)
-		p = btmp;
-	else
-		p++;
-	*p = 0;
-	strcat(btmp, "btmp");
-	return btmp;
-}
-#endif
-
-/*
  *	Print a short date.
  */
 char *showdate()
@@ -381,6 +378,8 @@ int list(struct utmp *p, time_t t, int w
 	strncat(utline, p->ut_line, UT_LINESIZE);
 	if (strncmp(utline, "ftp", 3) == 0 && isdigit(utline[3]))
 		utline[3] = 0;
+	if (strncmp(utline, "ftpd", 4) == 0 && isdigit(utline[4]))
+		utline[4] = 0;
 	if (strncmp(utline, "uucp", 4) == 0 && isdigit(utline[4]))
 		utline[4] = 0;
 
@@ -708,10 +707,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
    *	Which file do we want to read?
    */
   if (strcmp(progname, "lastb") == 0) {
-	ufile = BTMP_FILE;
+	ufile = TRANSFORM_UTMP_FILE_NAME(BTMP_FILE);
 	lastb = 1;
   } else
-	ufile = WTMP_FILE;
+	ufile = TRANSFORM_UTMP_FILE_NAME(WTMP_FILE);
   if (altufile)
 	ufile = altufile;
   time(&lastdown);
diff -ruNp sysvinit-2.96.orig/src/utmp.c sysvinit-2.96/src/utmp.c
--- sysvinit-2.96.orig/src/utmp.c	2019-09-11 19:43:12.000000000 +0200
+++ sysvinit-2.96/src/utmp.c	2019-12-01 05:15:12.143729210 +0100
@@ -80,7 +80,9 @@ char *line)			/* Which line is this */
 	 *	this if we have updwtmp() so we can see if the
 	 *	wtmp file is accessible.
 	 */
+#if !HAVE_UPDWTMP
 	if ((fd = open(WTMP_FILE, O_WRONLY|O_APPEND)) < 0) return;
+#endif
 
 #ifdef INIT_MAIN
 	/*
@@ -140,8 +142,8 @@ char *line)			/* Which line is this */
 	updwtmp(WTMP_FILE, &utmp);
 #else
 	write(fd, (char *)&utmp, sizeof(utmp));
-#endif
 	close(fd);
+#endif
 }
 
 /*
@@ -164,8 +166,10 @@ char *oldline)			/* Line of old utmp ent
 	/*
 	 *	Can't do much if UTMP_FILE is not present or not writable.
 	 */
+#if !HAVE_UPDWTMP
 	if (access(UTMP_FILE, W_OK) < 0)
 		return;
+#endif
 
 #ifdef INIT_MAIN
 	/*