diff --git a/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip b/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip
index c369eaaa3c..1c40495d18 100755
--- a/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip
+++ b/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip
@@ -11,16 +11,14 @@ os.environ["PYTHONUNBUFFERED"] = "y"
 
 sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', '..'))
 from scripts.lib.zulip_tools import DEPLOYMENTS_DIR, FAIL, WARNING, ENDC, \
-    su_to_zulip, get_deployment_lock, release_deployment_lock
+    su_to_zulip, get_deployment_lock, release_deployment_lock, script_should_be_root
+
+script_should_be_root(strip_lib_from_paths=True)
 
 logging.Formatter.converter = time.gmtime
 logging.basicConfig(format="%(asctime)s upgrade-zulip: %(message)s",
                     level=logging.INFO)
 
-if os.getuid() != 0:
-    logging.error("Must be run as root.")
-    sys.exit(1)
-
 if len(sys.argv) != 2:
     print(FAIL + "Usage: %s <tarball>" % (sys.argv[0],) + ENDC)
     sys.exit(1)
diff --git a/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-from-git b/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-from-git
index 697706c0cb..9904cf61d7 100755
--- a/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-from-git
+++ b/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-from-git
@@ -24,16 +24,14 @@ os.environ["PYTHONUNBUFFERED"] = "y"
 
 sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', '..'))
 from scripts.lib.zulip_tools import DEPLOYMENTS_DIR, FAIL, WARNING, ENDC, make_deploy_path, \
-    get_deployment_lock, release_deployment_lock, su_to_zulip
+    get_deployment_lock, release_deployment_lock, su_to_zulip, script_should_be_root
+
+script_should_be_root(strip_lib_from_paths=True)
 
 logging.Formatter.converter = time.gmtime
 logging.basicConfig(format="%(asctime)s upgrade-zulip-from-git: %(message)s",
                     level=logging.INFO)
 
-if os.getuid() != 0:
-    logging.error("Must be run as root.")
-    sys.exit(1)
-
 parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
 parser.add_argument("refname", help="Git reference, e.g. a branch, tag, or commit ID.")
 parser.add_argument("--remote-url", dest="remote_url",
diff --git a/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-stage-2 b/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-stage-2
index 3bbcc199e3..33e0e8c514 100755
--- a/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-stage-2
+++ b/scripts/lib/upgrade-zulip-stage-2
@@ -20,16 +20,14 @@ os.environ["LANG"] = "en_US.UTF-8"
 os.environ["LANGUAGE"] = "en_US.UTF-8"
 
 sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', '..'))
-from scripts.lib.zulip_tools import DEPLOYMENTS_DIR, FAIL, WARNING, ENDC, su_to_zulip
+from scripts.lib.zulip_tools import DEPLOYMENTS_DIR, FAIL, WARNING, ENDC, su_to_zulip, script_should_be_root
+
+script_should_be_root()
 
 logging.Formatter.converter = time.gmtime
 logging.basicConfig(format="%(asctime)s upgrade-zulip-stage-2: %(message)s",
                     level=logging.INFO)
 
-if os.getuid() != 0:
-    logging.error("Must be run as root.")
-    sys.exit(1)
-
 # make sure we have appropriate file permissions
 os.umask(0o22)