diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 1758510b..40275547 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 xbps-0.44.1 (???):
 
+ * xbps-uunshare(8): do not fail if we cannot disable setgroups; some kernels
+   might not support it. Found by @cheneukirchen on 3.16.
+
  * xbps-reconfigure(8): added -i/--ignore to usage(), by Christian Neukirchen.
 
  * Updated zsh completions, by Christian Neukirchen.
diff --git a/bin/xbps-uunshare/main.c b/bin/xbps-uunshare/main.c
index c964c373..f2523eae 100644
--- a/bin/xbps-uunshare/main.c
+++ b/bin/xbps-uunshare/main.c
@@ -147,12 +147,11 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 		
 		close(fd);
 
-		if ((fd = open("/proc/self/setgroups", O_RDWR)) == -1)
-			die("failed to open /proc/self/setgroups rw");
-		if (write(fd, "deny", 4) == -1)
-			die("failed to write to /proc/self/setgroups");
-	
-		close(fd);
+		if ((fd = open("/proc/self/setgroups", O_RDWR)) == 0) {
+			if (write(fd, "deny", 4) == -1)
+				die("failed to write to /proc/self/setgroups");
+			close(fd);
+		}
 
 		if ((fd = open("/proc/self/gid_map", O_RDWR)) == -1)
 			die("failed to open /proc/self/gid_map rw");