diff --git a/internal/vaultik/restore.go b/internal/vaultik/restore.go
index 3499e13..bb7715c 100644
--- a/internal/vaultik/restore.go
+++ b/internal/vaultik/restore.go
@@ -126,6 +126,10 @@ func (v *Vaultik) Restore(opts *RestoreOptions) error {
 		v.UI.Duration(result.Duration),
 	)
 
+	if os.Geteuid() != 0 {
+		v.UI.Warning("Restore did not preserve file ownership: chown(2) requires root. Re-run as root (e.g. with sudo) if you need original UID/GID preserved.")
+	}
+
 	if result.FilesFailed > 0 {
 		v.UI.Warning("%d file(s) failed to restore:", result.FilesFailed)
 		for _, path := range result.FailedFiles {
@@ -247,6 +251,7 @@ func (v *Vaultik) restoreAllFiles(
 		blobCache:      blobCache,
 		sweeper:        sweeper,
 		result:         result,
+		runningAsRoot:  os.Geteuid() == 0,
 	}
 
 	// Periodic progress output, matching the snapshot create cadence.
@@ -536,6 +541,13 @@ type restoreSession struct {
 	blobCache      *blobDiskCache
 	sweeper        *restoreSweeper
 	result         *RestoreResult
+	// runningAsRoot gates chown(2). On every Unix-ish kernel, only
+	// root can chown a file to an arbitrary UID/GID — non-root chown
+	// always fails with EPERM. Attempting it anyway produces N
+	// guaranteed-failed syscalls + N noisy debug lines, so we skip
+	// the call entirely as non-root and emit one warning at the end
+	// of the restore explaining that ownership was not preserved.
+	runningAsRoot bool
 }
 
 // restoreFile dispatches to the right per-kind restorer.
@@ -580,9 +592,11 @@ func (s *restoreSession) restoreDirectory(file *database.File, targetPath string
 	if err := s.v.Fs.Chmod(targetPath, os.FileMode(file.Mode)); err != nil {
 		log.Debug("Failed to set directory permissions", "path", targetPath, "error", err)
 	}
-	if _, ok := s.v.Fs.(*afero.OsFs); ok {
-		if err := os.Chown(targetPath, int(file.UID), int(file.GID)); err != nil {
-			log.Debug("Failed to set directory ownership", "path", targetPath, "error", err)
+	if s.runningAsRoot {
+		if _, ok := s.v.Fs.(*afero.OsFs); ok {
+			if err := os.Chown(targetPath, int(file.UID), int(file.GID)); err != nil {
+				log.Debug("Failed to set directory ownership", "path", targetPath, "error", err)
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	if err := s.v.Fs.Chtimes(targetPath, file.MTime, file.MTime); err != nil {
@@ -671,9 +685,11 @@ func (s *restoreSession) restoreRegularFile(file *database.File, targetPath stri
 	if err := s.v.Fs.Chmod(targetPath, os.FileMode(file.Mode)); err != nil {
 		log.Debug("Failed to set file permissions", "path", targetPath, "error", err)
 	}
-	if _, ok := s.v.Fs.(*afero.OsFs); ok {
-		if err := os.Chown(targetPath, int(file.UID), int(file.GID)); err != nil {
-			log.Debug("Failed to set file ownership", "path", targetPath, "error", err)
+	if s.runningAsRoot {
+		if _, ok := s.v.Fs.(*afero.OsFs); ok {
+			if err := os.Chown(targetPath, int(file.UID), int(file.GID)); err != nil {
+				log.Debug("Failed to set file ownership", "path", targetPath, "error", err)
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	if err := s.v.Fs.Chtimes(targetPath, file.MTime, file.MTime); err != nil {