diff -u nis-3.17/debian/changelog nis-3.17/debian/changelog
--- nis-3.17/debian/changelog
+++ nis-3.17/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+nis (3.17-32ubuntu5) quantal; urgency=low
+
+  * debian/preinst: Check for existence of /etc/init.d/nis before
+    attempting to stop nis and remove its init.d script (LP: #993291).
+
+ -- James Page <james.page@ubuntu.com>  Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:55:01 +0100
+
 nis (3.17-32ubuntu4) precise; urgency=low
 
   * debian/nis.ypbind.upstart: don't try to start ypserv if NISSERVER=false.
diff -u nis-3.17/debian/preinst nis-3.17/debian/preinst
--- nis-3.17/debian/preinst
+++ nis-3.17/debian/preinst
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@
 then
 	# since this isn't stopped on upgrade, we have to stop it now
 	# so we don't leave orphaned processes running
-	invoke-rc.d nis stop
 	if [ -e "/etc/init.d/nis" ] && [ ! -L "/etc/init.d/nis" ]; then
+		invoke-rc.d nis stop
 		if [ "`md5sum \"/etc/init.d/nis\" | sed -e \"s/ .*//\"`" != \
 		     "`dpkg-query -W -f='${Conffiles}' nis | sed -n -e \"\\\\' /etc/init.d/nis '{s/ obsolete$//;s/.* //p}\"`" ]
 		then
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@
 		else
 			rm -f "/etc/init.d/nis"
 		fi
+		update-rc.d nis remove
 	fi
-	update-rc.d nis remove
 fi
 
 #DEBHELPER#