diff --git a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
index 238b671f7a..f25a137114 100644
--- a/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
+++ b/src/bin/pg_basebackup/pg_basebackup.c
@@ -2077,6 +2077,21 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 		}
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * Disallow running as root, as PostgreSQL will be unable to start
+	 * with root-owned files.
+	 */
+	#ifndef WIN32
+	if (geteuid() == 0)			/* 0 is root's uid */
+	{
+		pg_log_error("cannot be run as root");
+		fprintf(stderr,
+				_("Please log in (using, e.g., \"su\") as the (unprivileged) user that will\n"
+				  "own the server process.\n"));
+		exit(1);
+	}
+#endif
+
 	atexit(cleanup_directories_atexit);
 
 	while ((c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "CD:F:r:RS:T:X:l:nNzZ:d:c:h:p:U:s:wWkvP",