diff --git a/distributed/tests/test_nanny.py b/distributed/tests/test_nanny.py
index b05b7dc90c..22901a04a1 100644
--- a/distributed/tests/test_nanny.py
+++ b/distributed/tests/test_nanny.py
@@ -429,6 +429,7 @@ async def test_local_directory(s):
 
 
 @pytest.mark.skipif(WINDOWS, reason="Need POSIX filesystem permissions and UIDs")
+@pytest.mark.skipif(os.getuid() == 0, reason="Must not be root")
 @gen_cluster(nthreads=[])
 async def test_unwriteable_dask_worker_space(s, tmp_path):
     os.mkdir(f"{tmp_path}/dask-scratch-space", mode=0o500)