diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2017c1be..38b00417 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ Otherwise see below for OS specific instructions.
         wget -qO - https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_14.x | sudo -E bash -
         sudo apt install nodejs
 
-2.  Create a new directory and run the Clusterio installer:
+2.  Log in as the user you wish to install Clusterio as (do not use root), and then create a new directory and run the Clusterio installer:
 
         mkdir clusterio
         cd clusterio
diff --git a/packages/create/create.js b/packages/create/create.js
index bc826314..446b435e 100755
--- a/packages/create/create.js
+++ b/packages/create/create.js
@@ -168,6 +168,19 @@ async function validateInstallDir() {
 	}
 }
 
+async function validateNotRoot(args) {
+	if (args.allowInstallAsRoot) {
+		return;
+	}
+
+	if (os.userInfo().uid === 0) {
+		throw new InstallError(
+			"Refusing to install as root. Create a separate user account for clusterio " +
+			"and then use su/sudo to switch to it before invoking the installer."
+		);
+	}
+}
+
 async function installClusterio(mode, plugins) {
 	try {
 		await safeOutputFile("package.json", JSON.stringify({
@@ -547,6 +560,9 @@ async function main() {
 
 	if (process.platform === "linux") {
 		args = args
+			.option("allow-install-as-root", {
+				nargs: 0, describe: "(Linux only) Allow installing as root (not recommended)", type: "boolean",
+			})
 			.option("download-headless", {
 				nargs: 0,
 				describe: "(Linux only) Automatically download and unpack the latest factorio release. " +
@@ -563,6 +579,7 @@ async function main() {
 
 	if (!dev) {
 		await validateInstallDir();
+		await validateNotRoot(args);
 	}
 
 	let answers = await inquirerMissingArgs(args);