diff --git a/t/lib-httpd.sh b/t/lib-httpd.sh
index fd53b5718780e25f03924e38438706acc54598db..d154d1ed1dd8f3449ad21e0aeefdce7d3120e1fb 100644
--- a/t/lib-httpd.sh
+++ b/t/lib-httpd.sh
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ then
 	test_done
 fi
 
-if ! test_have_prereq SANITY; then
+if ! test_have_prereq NOT_ROOT; then
 	test_skip_or_die $GIT_TEST_HTTPD \
 		"Cannot run httpd tests as root"
 fi
diff --git a/t/test-lib.sh b/t/test-lib.sh
index a7a4639d7c61d43c2772207d118ee8897456f1ec..b2b2ec7f1cff4462c1e7184c3e00d054efec1d58 100644
--- a/t/test-lib.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib.sh
@@ -992,6 +992,11 @@ test_lazy_prereq USR_BIN_TIME '
 	test -x /usr/bin/time
 '
 
+test_lazy_prereq NOT_ROOT '
+	uid=$(id -u) &&
+	test "$uid" != 0
+'
+
 # When the tests are run as root, permission tests will report that
 # things are writable when they shouldn't be.
 test -w / || test_set_prereq SANITY