diff --git a/src/ex_cmds.c b/src/ex_cmds.c
index 1bb7ba0..80ac3f9 100644
--- a/src/ex_cmds.c
+++ b/src/ex_cmds.c
@@ -1772,7 +1772,8 @@
 	 */
 	st_old.st_dev = st_old.st_ino = 0;
 	st_old.st_mode = 0600;
-	if (mch_stat((char *)fname, &st_old) == 0 && getuid()
+	if (mch_stat((char *)fname, &st_old) == 0
+		&& getuid() != ROOT_UID
 		&& !(st_old.st_uid == getuid()
 			? (st_old.st_mode & 0200)
 			: (st_old.st_gid == getgid()