diff --git a/arch-nspawn.in b/arch-nspawn.in
index 6900382a1acc115c2cf5b6d93796c657588d5512..4436a0e32a9ab9bb6dd80e467b5e7503b4cbc348 100644
--- a/arch-nspawn.in
+++ b/arch-nspawn.in
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ while getopts 'hC:M:c:' arg; do
 done
 shift $(($OPTIND - 1))
 
-(( $EUID != 0 )) && die 'This script must be run as root.'
 (( $# < 1 )) && die 'You must specify a directory.'
+check_root "$0" "$@"
 
 working_dir=$(readlink -f "$1")
 shift 1
diff --git a/archbuild.in b/archbuild.in
index b1c96f97e430bbe39baa0b358134d77ad88442fd..ae2f511fcaa3a081511993b7fd3bc74e2ce1ff06 100644
--- a/archbuild.in
+++ b/archbuild.in
@@ -40,9 +40,7 @@ done
 # Pass all arguments after -- right to makepkg
 makechrootpkg_args+=("${@:$OPTIND}")
 
-if (( EUID )); then
-	die 'This script must be run as root.'
-fi
+check_root "$0" "$@"
 
 if ${clean_first} || [[ ! -d "${chroots}/${repo}-${arch}" ]]; then
 	msg "Creating chroot for [${repo}] (${arch})..."
diff --git a/lib/common.sh b/lib/common.sh
index c9ff1b80b9bb66d5b6703ec5631938ccf1884e4a..b885080e994a0a19a9c1a4ede5899af7060409a4 100644
--- a/lib/common.sh
+++ b/lib/common.sh
@@ -228,3 +228,16 @@ find_cached_package() {
 			return 1
 	esac
 }
+
+##
+#  usage : check_root ("$0" "$@")
+##
+check_root() {
+	(( EUID == 0 )) && return
+	if type -P sudo >/dev/null; then
+		exec sudo -- "$@"
+	else
+		exec su root -c "$(printf '%q' "$@")"
+	fi
+	die 'This script must be run as root.'
+}
diff --git a/makechrootpkg.in b/makechrootpkg.in
index 47c6ac9618a354e3c1cf7073794ad7786df73de2..97c7780822f0a31d359eb14a0dab343793f8c36b 100644
--- a/makechrootpkg.in
+++ b/makechrootpkg.in
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ while getopts 'hcur:I:l:nTD:d:' arg; do
 	esac
 done
 
-(( EUID != 0 )) && die 'This script must be run as root.'
+check_root "$0" "$@"
 
 [[ ! -f PKGBUILD && -z "${install_pkgs[*]}" ]] && die 'This must be run in a directory containing a PKGBUILD.'
 
diff --git a/mkarchroot.in b/mkarchroot.in
index 7cdb27484c641adc43578b5431871c5c07ec3c7e..fb472bc0f827b52c982a950f030f884c65d1535b 100644
--- a/mkarchroot.in
+++ b/mkarchroot.in
@@ -35,9 +35,10 @@ while getopts 'hC:M:c:' arg; do
 done
 shift $(($OPTIND - 1))
 
-(( $EUID != 0 )) && die 'This script must be run as root.'
 (( $# < 2 )) && die 'You must specify a directory and one or more packages.'
 
+check_root "$0" "$@"
+
 working_dir="$(readlink -f $1)"
 shift 1