The Umkehr technique has been used routinely for more than 40 years to assess features in the vertical distribution of ozone. The measurements represent the longest ozone profile data record in existence. A careful examination of the long-term Umkehr N-value (radiance) measurement record, archived at the WMO World Ozone and UV Data Center in Toronto, Canada, revealed shifts in the data. These shifts appear to be mainly related to Dobson instrument calibrations and/or to instrument changes at the observing stations. In most cases, the detected shifts exhibit solar zenith angle dependence. The standard procedure of subtracting the Umkehr measurement at 60-degree solar zenith angle (or the next smallest SZA available) from the measurement at the other angles to eliminate the instrumental and extraterrestrial constants from measurements does not necessarily remove the shifts. The shift errors would appear as shifts in the retrieved ozone profiles and could affect any ozone profile analysis (including ozone trends) as well as comparisons with other profiles derived from satellite and lidar measurements. A preliminary approach for detecting the shifts and allowing for corrections is developed and evaluated for its potential to improve the quality of the of the Umkehr records. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union