diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 089d680..f5715a6 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ xen-tools (xxx) unstable; urgency=low
   * Allow the user to specify which disk device should be used, via
     disk_device=/dev/xvd[a-z] in xen-tools.conf
     (Closes: #439233)
+  * Use 'apt-get remove' rather than 'dpkg --purge' when removing packages
+    in hooks.  (Closes: #441981)
 
  -- Blah
 
diff --git a/hooks/common.sh b/hooks/common.sh
index 56166ec..5ce60df 100644
--- a/hooks/common.sh
+++ b/hooks/common.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-
 #!/bin/sh
 #
 #  Common shell functions which may be used by any hook script
@@ -158,7 +157,7 @@ enableStartStopDaemon ()
 #
 #  Remove the specified Debian packages.
 #
-#  NOTE:  Function not renamed with trailing "s" for compatability reasons.
+#  NOTE:  Function not renamed with trailing "s" for compatibility reasons.
 #
 removeDebianPackage ()
 {
@@ -183,7 +182,7 @@ removeDebianPackage ()
     #
     # Purge the packages we've been given.
     #
-    chroot ${prefix} /usr/bin/dpkg --purge "$@"
+    chroot ${prefix} /usr/bin/apt-get remove --purge "$@"
 
 }