diff --git a/go-selinux/label/label_linux.go b/go-selinux/label/label_linux.go
index 12de0ae..f61a560 100644
--- a/go-selinux/label/label_linux.go
+++ b/go-selinux/label/label_linux.go
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@ package label
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
-	"os"
-	"os/user"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/opencontainers/selinux/go-selinux"
@@ -113,50 +111,6 @@ func Relabel(path string, fileLabel string, shared bool) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
-	exclude_paths := map[string]bool{
-		"/":           true,
-		"/bin":        true,
-		"/boot":       true,
-		"/dev":        true,
-		"/etc":        true,
-		"/etc/passwd": true,
-		"/etc/pki":    true,
-		"/etc/shadow": true,
-		"/home":       true,
-		"/lib":        true,
-		"/lib64":      true,
-		"/media":      true,
-		"/opt":        true,
-		"/proc":       true,
-		"/root":       true,
-		"/run":        true,
-		"/sbin":       true,
-		"/srv":        true,
-		"/sys":        true,
-		"/tmp":        true,
-		"/usr":        true,
-		"/var":        true,
-		"/var/lib":    true,
-		"/var/log":    true,
-	}
-
-	if home := os.Getenv("HOME"); home != "" {
-		exclude_paths[home] = true
-	}
-
-	if sudoUser := os.Getenv("SUDO_USER"); sudoUser != "" {
-		if usr, err := user.Lookup(sudoUser); err == nil {
-			exclude_paths[usr.HomeDir] = true
-		}
-	}
-
-	if path != "/" {
-		path = strings.TrimSuffix(path, "/")
-	}
-	if exclude_paths[path] {
-		return fmt.Errorf("SELinux relabeling of %s is not allowed", path)
-	}
-
 	if shared {
 		c, err := selinux.NewContext(fileLabel)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/go-selinux/selinux_linux.go b/go-selinux/selinux_linux.go
index bedc89f..d56c317 100644
--- a/go-selinux/selinux_linux.go
+++ b/go-selinux/selinux_linux.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"math/big"
 	"os"
+	"os/user"
 	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strconv"
@@ -1083,6 +1084,50 @@ func chcon(fpath string, label string, recurse bool) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	exclude_paths := map[string]bool{
+		"/":           true,
+		"/bin":        true,
+		"/boot":       true,
+		"/dev":        true,
+		"/etc":        true,
+		"/etc/passwd": true,
+		"/etc/pki":    true,
+		"/etc/shadow": true,
+		"/home":       true,
+		"/lib":        true,
+		"/lib64":      true,
+		"/media":      true,
+		"/opt":        true,
+		"/proc":       true,
+		"/root":       true,
+		"/run":        true,
+		"/sbin":       true,
+		"/srv":        true,
+		"/sys":        true,
+		"/tmp":        true,
+		"/usr":        true,
+		"/var":        true,
+		"/var/lib":    true,
+		"/var/log":    true,
+	}
+
+	if home := os.Getenv("HOME"); home != "" {
+		exclude_paths[home] = true
+	}
+
+	if sudoUser := os.Getenv("SUDO_USER"); sudoUser != "" {
+		if usr, err := user.Lookup(sudoUser); err == nil {
+			exclude_paths[usr.HomeDir] = true
+		}
+	}
+
+	if fpath != "/" {
+		fpath = strings.TrimSuffix(fpath, "/")
+	}
+	if exclude_paths[fpath] {
+		return fmt.Errorf("SELinux relabeling of %s is not allowed", fpath)
+	}
+
 	if !recurse {
 		return setFileLabel(fpath, label)
 	}