diff --git a/pmb/__init__.py b/pmb/__init__.py
index 10469050..29f11c61 100644
--- a/pmb/__init__.py
+++ b/pmb/__init__.py
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ def print_log_hint() -> None:
     print(log_hint)
 
 
-def main(*, original_uid: int) -> int:
+def main() -> int:
     # Wrap everything to display nice error messages
 
     args: PmbArgs
@@ -72,8 +72,6 @@ def main(*, original_uid: int) -> int:
 
         # Sanity checks
         other.check_grsec()
-        if not args.as_root and original_uid == 0:
-            raise RuntimeError("Do not run pmbootstrap as root!")
 
         # Check for required programs (and find their absolute paths)
         require_programs()
diff --git a/pmbootstrap.py b/pmbootstrap.py
index 3208d9b8..ead78714 100755
--- a/pmbootstrap.py
+++ b/pmbootstrap.py
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ from pmb.init import sandbox
 # Sanitise environment a bit
 os.environ["SHELL"] = "/bin/sh" if os.path.exists("/bin/sh") else "/bin/bash"
 
-original_uid = os.geteuid()
+if os.geteuid() == 0:
+    raise RuntimeError("pmbootstrap can't be run as root, please run it as a regular user.")
 
 sandbox.acquire_privileges(become_root=False)
 # Unshare mount and PID namespaces. We create a new PID namespace so
@@ -64,4 +65,4 @@ os.chdir(os.environ["PWD"])
 # A convenience wrapper for running pmbootstrap from the git repository. This
 # script is not part of the python packaging, so don't add more logic here!
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    sys.exit(pmb.main(original_uid=original_uid))
+    sys.exit(pmb.main())