Rab5 is a cellular GTPase essential for endocytic clearance of invading pathogens. This study from Shino Tanaka, Hiromu Oide, Tomoko Kubori, Kohei Arasaki (Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences) and colleagues reveals that the bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila ubiquitinates Rab5 to recruit a Rab5 inactivator RabGAP-5 to its phagosome, thereby excluding Rab5 and facilitating its intracellular replication.