diff --git a/build b/build
index 34af272..f63f3a8 100755
--- a/build
+++ b/build
@@ -26,8 +26,6 @@ main()
 	[ $# -lt 1 ] && badcmd
 	spath="script/$1"
 
-	[ "$(id -u)" != "0" ] || $err "this command as root is not permitted"
-
 	for g in "which git" "git config --global user.name" \
 	    "git config --global user.email" "git_init"; do
 		eval "$g 1>/dev/null 2>/dev/null || git_err \"$g\""
diff --git a/include/lib.sh b/include/lib.sh
index c5bd4bc..23dfe81 100755
--- a/include/lib.sh
+++ b/include/lib.sh
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ install_packages()
 }
 [ $# -gt 0 ] && [ "$1" = "dependencies" ] && install_packages $@ && return 0
 
+[ "$(id -u)" != "0" ] || $err "this command as root is not permitted"
+
 # if "y": a coreboot target won't be built if target.cfg says release="n"
 # (this is used to exclude certain build targets from releases)