diff -upr syslog-ng-3.0.9./src/affile.c syslog-ng-3.0.9/src/affile.c
--- syslog-ng-3.0.9./src/affile.c	2011-01-19 15:14:11.813181829 +0100
+++ syslog-ng-3.0.9/src/affile.c	2011-01-19 16:10:12.399928759 +0100
@@ -59,7 +59,12 @@ affile_open_file(gchar *name, gint flags
   if (privileged)
     {
       g_process_cap_modify(CAP_DAC_READ_SEARCH, TRUE);
-      g_process_cap_modify(CAP_SYS_ADMIN, TRUE);
+      if (!kernel_version)
+        get_kernel_version();
+      if (kernel_version < LINUX_VERSION(2, 6, 38))
+        g_process_cap_modify(CAP_SYS_ADMIN, TRUE);
+      else
+        g_process_cap_modify(CAP_SYSLOG, TRUE);
     }
   else
       g_process_cap_modify(CAP_DAC_OVERRIDE, TRUE);
diff -upr syslog-ng-3.0.9./src/gprocess.h syslog-ng-3.0.9/src/gprocess.h
--- syslog-ng-3.0.9./src/gprocess.h	2009-04-22 13:06:55.000000000 +0200
+++ syslog-ng-3.0.9/src/gprocess.h	2011-01-19 16:10:12.399928759 +0100
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #include "syslog-ng.h"
 
 #include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/utsname.h>
 
 #if ENABLE_LINUX_CAPS
 #  include <sys/capability.h>
@@ -77,5 +78,8 @@ void g_process_finish(void);
 
 void g_process_add_option_group(GOptionContext *ctx);
 
+extern int kernel_version;
+extern void get_kernel_version(void);
+#define LINUX_VERSION(x,y,z)    (0x10000*(x) + 0x100*(y) + z)
 
 #endif
diff -upr syslog-ng-3.0.9./src/main.c syslog-ng-3.0.9/src/main.c
--- syslog-ng-3.0.9./src/main.c	2010-05-10 17:46:05.000000000 +0200
+++ syslog-ng-3.0.9/src/main.c	2011-01-19 16:10:25.346593248 +0100
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ static const gchar *persist_file = PATH_
 static gboolean syntax_only = FALSE;
 static gboolean seed_rng = FALSE;
 static gboolean display_version = FALSE;
+int kernel_version;
 
 static volatile sig_atomic_t sig_hup_received = FALSE;
 static volatile sig_atomic_t sig_term_received = FALSE;
@@ -395,6 +396,20 @@ version(void)
          ON_OFF_STR(ENABLE_PCRE));
 }
 
+void
+get_kernel_version(void) {
+	static struct utsname uts;
+	int x = 0, y = 0, z = 0;
+
+	if (uname(&uts) == -1) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Unable to retrieve kernel version.\n");
+		exit(1);
+	}
+
+	sscanf(uts.release, "%d.%d.%d", &x, &y, &z);
+	kernel_version = LINUX_VERSION(x, y, z);
+}
+
 int 
 main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
@@ -411,9 +426,20 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
    * indicate readability. Enabling/disabling cap_sys_admin on every poll
    * invocation seems to be too expensive. So I enable it for now. */
   
-  g_process_set_caps("cap_net_bind_service,cap_net_broadcast,cap_net_raw,"
+  if (!kernel_version)
+    get_kernel_version();
+  if (kernel_version < LINUX_VERSION(2, 6, 34))
+    g_process_set_caps("cap_net_bind_service,cap_net_broadcast,cap_net_raw,"
                      "cap_dac_read_search,cap_dac_override,cap_chown,cap_fowner=p "
                      "cap_sys_admin=ep");
+  else if (kernel_version < LINUX_VERSION(2, 6, 38))
+    g_process_set_caps("cap_net_bind_service,cap_net_broadcast,cap_net_raw,"
+                     "cap_dac_read_search,cap_dac_override,cap_chown,cap_fowner,"
+                     "cap_sys_admin=p");
+  else 
+    g_process_set_caps("cap_net_bind_service,cap_net_broadcast,cap_net_raw,"
+                     "cap_dac_read_search,cap_dac_override,cap_chown,cap_fowner,"
+                     "cap_syslog=p");
   ctx = g_option_context_new("syslog-ng");
   g_process_add_option_group(ctx);
   msg_add_option_group(ctx);