diff --git a/Documentation/Changelog.md b/Documentation/Changelog.md
index 90397a074..593f2ecfe 100644
--- a/Documentation/Changelog.md
+++ b/Documentation/Changelog.md
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 * Binlog router supports MariaDB 10 GTID at both ends.
 * KILL CONNECTION can now be used through MaxScale.
 * Environment variables can now be used in the MaxScale configuration file.
+* By default, MaxScale can no longer be run as root.
 
 For more details, please refer to:
 * [MariaDB MaxScale 2.2.1 Release Notes](Release-Notes/MaxScale-2.2.1-Release-Notes.md)
diff --git a/Documentation/Release-Notes/MaxScale-2.2.1-Release-Notes.md b/Documentation/Release-Notes/MaxScale-2.2.1-Release-Notes.md
index b0adad25b..dbf0efae8 100644
--- a/Documentation/Release-Notes/MaxScale-2.2.1-Release-Notes.md
+++ b/Documentation/Release-Notes/MaxScale-2.2.1-Release-Notes.md
@@ -10,6 +10,21 @@ report at [Jira](https://jira.mariadb.org).
 
 ## Changed Features
 
+### Process identity
+
+By default, MaxScale can no longer be run as `root`, but must be run as some
+other user. However, it is possible to start MaxScale as `root`, as long as
+the user to run MaxScale as is provided as a command line argument:
+```
+root@host:~# maxscale --user=maxuser ...
+```
+If it is imperative to run MaxScale as root, e.g. in a Docker container, it
+can be achieved by invoking MaxScale as root and by explicitly specifying
+the user to also be root:
+```
+root@host:~# maxscale --user=root ...
+```
+
 ### Binlog server
 
 * The `mariadb10_slave_gtid` parameter was removed and slave connections can now
diff --git a/server/core/gateway.cc b/server/core/gateway.cc
index 60789f34c..ed6bae1a2 100644
--- a/server/core/gateway.cc
+++ b/server/core/gateway.cc
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ static void modules_process_finish();
 static void disable_module_unloading(const char* arg);
 static void enable_module_unloading(const char* arg);
 static void redirect_output_to_file(const char* arg);
+static bool user_is_acceptable(const char* specified_user);
 
 struct DEBUG_ARGUMENT
 {
@@ -1371,6 +1372,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     int numlocks = 0;
     bool pid_file_created = false;
     Worker* worker;
+    const char* specified_user = NULL;
 
     *syslog_enabled = 1;
     *maxlog_enabled = 1;
@@ -1653,7 +1655,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
             }
             break;
         case 'U':
-            if (set_user(optarg) != 0)
+            specified_user = optarg;
+            if (set_user(specified_user) != 0)
             {
                 succp = false;
             }
@@ -1690,6 +1693,13 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         }
     }
 
+    if (!user_is_acceptable(specified_user))
+    {
+        // Error was logged in user_is_acceptable().
+        rc = MAXSCALE_INTERNALERROR;
+        goto return_main;
+    }
+
     if (config_check)
     {
         daemon_mode = false;
@@ -3203,3 +3213,41 @@ static bool handle_debug_args(char* args)
     }
     return !arg_error;
 }
+
+static bool user_is_acceptable(const char* specified_user)
+{
+    bool acceptable = false;
+
+    // This is very early, so we do not have logging available, but write to stderr.
+    // As this is security related, we want to do as little as possible.
+
+    uid_t uid = getuid(); // Always succeeds
+    errno = 0;
+    struct passwd *pw = getpwuid(uid);
+    if (pw)
+    {
+        if (strcmp(pw->pw_name, "root") == 0)
+        {
+            if (specified_user && (strcmp(specified_user, "root") == 0))
+            {
+                // MaxScale was invoked as root and with --user=root.
+                acceptable = true;
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                fprintf(stderr, "Error: MaxScale cannot be run as root.\n");
+            }
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            acceptable = true;
+        }
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        fprintf(stderr, "Error: Could not obtain user information, MaxScale will not run: %s",
+                strerror(errno));
+    }
+
+    return acceptable;
+}