diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 05145d44..1ef98133 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 xbps-0.42 (???):
 
+ * If removing a package and euid==0 do not check for file owner, being root
+   means that all files can be removed properly. This fixes package removal
+   when some files were not owned by root, rather by a system account.
+
  * Fixed 65 issues found by Coverity scan. Defect density is now below 0.30
    per 1000 lines of code.
 
diff --git a/lib/package_remove.c b/lib/package_remove.c
index 9c822785..5679fea9 100644
--- a/lib/package_remove.c
+++ b/lib/package_remove.c
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ check_remove_pkg_files(struct xbps_handle *xhp,
 			 * enough to ensure the user has write permissions
 			 * on the directory.
 			 */
-			if (!lstat(path, &st) && euid == st.st_uid) {
+			if (euid == 0 || (!lstat(path, &st) && euid == st.st_uid)) {
 				/* success */
 				continue;
 			}