diff --git a/tasks/proxypool.yml b/tasks/proxypool.yml
index e8c328947109f30569e967906ec7c533c46af5c5..ac7a227b5b9d560833998430593f02134e8732bd 100644
--- a/tasks/proxypool.yml
+++ b/tasks/proxypool.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
   - name: "Set directory permissions to current user"
     file:
       path: '/etc/letsencrypt'
-      owner: '{{ ansible_env.USER }}'
+      owner: '{{ ansible_env.SUDO_USER|default("root") }}'
       recurse: yes
       follow: no
     when: proxy_active|default(true)
diff --git a/tasks/pullcerts.yml b/tasks/pullcerts.yml
index 3e4bf1bc7d9fcb1ae350e49dbc5ae70ec3fa1a72..37679daa01c8fe9caa2abbf69cd62810fdee6a2a 100644
--- a/tasks/pullcerts.yml
+++ b/tasks/pullcerts.yml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 - name: "Set directory permissions to current user"
   file:
     path: '{{ item }}'
-    owner: '{{ ansible_env.USER }}'
+    owner: '{{ ansible_env.SUDO_USER|default("root") }}'
     recurse: yes
     follow: no
   with_items: