diff --git a/pkgkernel-auto.sh b/pkgkernel-auto.sh
index 22d21e0..94d9e45 100755
--- a/pkgkernel-auto.sh
+++ b/pkgkernel-auto.sh
@@ -58,6 +58,13 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
     shift
 done
 
+if [[ $EUID -ne 0 ]]; then
+   echo "This script must be run as root" 1>&2
+   sudo $0
+   exit 1
+fi
+
+
 if [ "${ARCHIVE}" != "" ] ; then
     FILE=`basename "$ARCHIVE"`
     KERNEL=`echo ${FILE}|sed 's/linux-//'|sed "s/\.${EXTENSION}//"`