diff --git a/src/common/fe.h b/src/common/fe.h
index 27ea3a26..2790dfa7 100644
--- a/src/common/fe.h
+++ b/src/common/fe.h
@@ -70,6 +70,9 @@ void fe_add_rawlog (struct server *serv, char *text, int len, int outbound);
 #define FE_MSG_ERROR 8
 #define FE_MSG_MARKUP 16
 void fe_message (char *msg, int flags);
+#ifdef __linux__
+void fe_root_warning (void);
+#endif
 #define FIA_READ 1
 #define FIA_WRITE 2
 #define FIA_EX 4
diff --git a/src/common/zoitechat.c b/src/common/zoitechat.c
index 16c2a5ed..22d97dc5 100644
--- a/src/common/zoitechat.c
+++ b/src/common/zoitechat.c
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ int zoitechat_is_quitting = FALSE;
 /* command-line args */
 int arg_dont_autoconnect = FALSE;
 int arg_skip_plugins = FALSE;
+gint arg_run_as_root = FALSE;
 char *arg_url = NULL;
 char **arg_urls = NULL;
 char *arg_command = NULL;
@@ -1175,6 +1176,25 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 	HRESULT coinit_result;
 #endif
 
+#ifdef __linux__
+	for (i = 1; i < argc; i++)
+	{
+		if (strcmp (argv[i], "--") == 0)
+			break;
+		if (strcmp (argv[i], "--run-as-root") == 0)
+		{
+			arg_run_as_root = TRUE;
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+
+	if (geteuid () == 0 && !arg_run_as_root)
+	{
+		fe_root_warning ();
+		return EXIT_FAILURE;
+	}
+#endif
+
 	srand ((unsigned int) time (NULL)); /* CL: do this only once! */
 
 	/* We must check for the config dir parameter, otherwise load_config() will behave incorrectly.
@@ -1263,7 +1283,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
 #ifndef WIN32
 #ifndef __EMX__
 	/* OS/2 uses UID 0 all the time */
-	if (getuid () == 0)
+	if (getuid () == 0 && !arg_run_as_root)
 		fe_message (_("* Running IRC as root is stupid! You should\n"
 			      "  create a User Account and use that to login.\n"), FE_MSG_WARN|FE_MSG_WAIT);
 #endif
diff --git a/src/common/zoitechatc.h b/src/common/zoitechatc.h
index 6cd65eb8..8fb65970 100644
--- a/src/common/zoitechatc.h
+++ b/src/common/zoitechatc.h
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ extern struct zoitechatprefs prefs;
 extern int zoitechat_is_quitting;
 extern gint arg_skip_plugins;	/* command-line args */
 extern gint arg_dont_autoconnect;
+extern gint arg_run_as_root;
 extern char *arg_url;
 extern char **arg_urls;
 extern char *arg_command;
diff --git a/src/fe-gtk/fe-gtk.c b/src/fe-gtk/fe-gtk.c
index ff9e21a6..f4d38494 100644
--- a/src/fe-gtk/fe-gtk.c
+++ b/src/fe-gtk/fe-gtk.c
@@ -90,6 +90,9 @@ static const GOptionEntry gopt_entries[] =
  {"no-auto",	'a', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE,	&arg_dont_autoconnect, N_("Don't auto connect to servers"), NULL},
  {"cfgdir",	'd', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,	&arg_cfgdir, N_("Use a different config directory"), "PATH"},
  {"no-plugins",	'n', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE,	&arg_skip_plugins, N_("Don't auto load any plugins"), NULL},
+#ifdef __linux__
+ {"run-as-root", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &arg_run_as_root, N_("Allow ZoiteChat to run as root (unsafe)"), NULL},
+#endif
  {"plugindir",	'p', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE,	&arg_show_autoload, N_("Show plugin/script auto-load directory"), NULL},
  {"configdir",	'u', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE,	&arg_show_config, N_("Show user config directory"), NULL},
  {"url",	 0,  G_OPTION_FLAG_HIDDEN, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING, &arg_url, N_("Open an irc://server:port/channel?key URL"), "URL"},
@@ -103,6 +106,33 @@ static const GOptionEntry gopt_entries[] =
  {NULL}
 };
 
+#ifdef __linux__
+void
+fe_root_warning (void)
+{
+	const char *message =
+		"ZoiteChat refuses to run as root on Linux.\n\n"
+		"Run it as a normal user, or pass --run-as-root to override this protection.";
+	GtkWidget *dialog;
+
+	g_printerr ("%s\n", message);
+
+	/* A graphical session may not be accessible to root, particularly under
+	 * Wayland. Keep stderr as the fallback if GTK cannot open the display. */
+	if (!gtk_init_check (NULL, NULL))
+		return;
+
+	dialog = gtk_message_dialog_new (NULL,
+	                                 GTK_DIALOG_MODAL,
+	                                 GTK_MESSAGE_ERROR,
+	                                 GTK_BUTTONS_CLOSE,
+	                                 "%s", message);
+	gtk_window_set_title (GTK_WINDOW (dialog), "ZoiteChat");
+	gtk_dialog_run (GTK_DIALOG (dialog));
+	gtk_widget_destroy (dialog);
+}
+#endif
+
 #ifdef WIN32
 static void
 create_msg_dialog (gchar *title, gchar *message)
diff --git a/src/fe-text/fe-text.c b/src/fe-text/fe-text.c
index 1bc792ba..d6855ce9 100644
--- a/src/fe-text/fe-text.c
+++ b/src/fe-text/fe-text.c
@@ -467,6 +467,9 @@ static const GOptionEntry gopt_entries[] =
  {"no-auto",	'a', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE,	&arg_dont_autoconnect, N_("Don't auto connect to servers"), NULL},
  {"cfgdir",	'd', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,	&arg_cfgdir, N_("Use a different config directory"), "PATH"},
  {"no-plugins",	'n', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE,	&arg_skip_plugins, N_("Don't auto load any plugins"), NULL},
+#ifdef __linux__
+ {"run-as-root", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &arg_run_as_root, N_("Allow ZoiteChat to run as root (unsafe)"), NULL},
+#endif
  {"plugindir",	'p', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE,	&arg_show_autoload, N_("Show plugin/script auto-load directory"), NULL},
  {"configdir",	'u', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE,	&arg_show_config, N_("Show user config directory"), NULL},
  {"url",	 0,  G_OPTION_FLAG_HIDDEN, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,	&arg_url, N_("Open an irc://server:port/channel URL"), "URL"},
@@ -475,6 +478,16 @@ static const GOptionEntry gopt_entries[] =
  {NULL}
 };
 
+#ifdef __linux__
+void
+fe_root_warning (void)
+{
+	fputs ("ZoiteChat refuses to run as root on Linux.\n"
+	       "Run it as a normal user, or pass --run-as-root to override this protection.\n",
+	       stderr);
+}
+#endif
+
 int
 fe_args (int argc, char *argv[])
 {