diff --git a/attributes/default.rb b/attributes/default.rb
index c0b8ff6..bdd74e9 100644
--- a/attributes/default.rb
+++ b/attributes/default.rb
@@ -8,3 +8,9 @@
 
 # you should override this in your environment with the real cluster
 default.zookeeper.smartstack_cluster = [ 'localhost:2181' ]
+
+default.smartstack.service_path = value_for_platform(
+  'centos' => { 'default' => '/sbin/service' },
+  'ubuntu' => { 'default' => '/usr/sbin/service' },
+  'default' => '/usr/sbin/service'
+)
diff --git a/recipes/synapse.rb b/recipes/synapse.rb
index 4ce89e3..4274ccc 100644
--- a/recipes/synapse.rb
+++ b/recipes/synapse.rb
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
   owner   "root"
   group   "root"
   mode    0440
-  content "#{node.smartstack.user} ALL= NOPASSWD: /usr/sbin/service haproxy reload\n"
+  content "#{node.smartstack.user} ALL= NOPASSWD: #{node.smartstack.service_path} haproxy reload\n"
 end
 
 # get the synapse code