diff --git a/src/freedombone-app-scuttlebot b/src/freedombone-app-scuttlebot
index 2c338a0b..520fd8a2 100755
--- a/src/freedombone-app-scuttlebot
+++ b/src/freedombone-app-scuttlebot
@@ -388,6 +388,7 @@ function mesh_install_scuttlebot {
 
     # an unprivileged user to install and run as
     chroot "$rootdir" useradd -d /etc/scuttlebot/ scuttlebot
+    chroot "$rootdir" chown -R scuttlebot:scuttlebot /etc/scuttlebot
 
     cat <<EOF > "$rootdir/usr/bin/install_scuttlebot"
 #!/bin/bash
@@ -398,7 +399,7 @@ fi
 exit 0
 EOF
     chroot "$rootdir" /bin/chmod +x /usr/bin/install_scuttlebot
-    chroot "$rootdir" su -c '/usr/bin/install_scuttlebot' - scuttlebot
+    chroot "$rootdir" sudo -u scuttlebot /usr/bin/install_scuttlebot
     rm "$rootdir/usr/bin/install_scuttlebot"
 
     if [ ! -f "$rootdir/etc/scuttlebot/node_modules/.bin/sbot" ]; then
@@ -452,6 +453,7 @@ function install_scuttlebot {
 
     # an unprivileged user to install and run as
     useradd -d /etc/scuttlebot/ scuttlebot
+    chown -R scuttlebot:scuttlebot /etc/scuttlebot
 
     cat <<EOF > /usr/bin/install_scuttlebot
 #!/bin/bash