diff --git a/pkgs/sane-scripts/src/sane-reclaim-disk-space b/pkgs/sane-scripts/src/sane-reclaim-disk-space
index 095ee0239..9d6ad1f59 100755
--- a/pkgs/sane-scripts/src/sane-reclaim-disk-space
+++ b/pkgs/sane-scripts/src/sane-reclaim-disk-space
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ rmlint --types="duplicates" --config=sh:handler=clone --output=sh:/tmp/rmlint.sh
 #   see: https://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Deduplication
 #   see: https://rmlint.readthedocs.io/en/latest/tutorial.html
 sudo mount -o remount,rw /nix/store
-/tmp/rmlint.sh -d || true  # on failure, we still want to remount ro
+# XXX: does rmlint really need to be invoked as root?
+sudo /tmp/rmlint.sh -d || true  # on failure, we still want to remount ro
 # XXX this doesn't work: 'mount point is busy.'
 sudo mount -o remount,ro /nix/store