diff --git a/tomb b/tomb
index 2be0afc..bc76d3f 100755
--- a/tomb
+++ b/tomb
@@ -1955,7 +1955,7 @@ forge_key() {
 		_failure "Operation aborted."
 	}
 
-	_sudo chown ${_UID}:${_GID} "$TOMBKEYFILE"
+	[[ -n $SUDO_USER ]] && chown ${_UID}:${_GID} "$TOMBKEYFILE"
 	_message "Done forging ::1 key file::" $TOMBKEYFILE
 	_success "Your key is ready:"
 	ls -lh $TOMBKEYFILE