diff --git a/src/node_device/node_device_udev.c b/src/node_device/node_device_udev.c
index 50bb952bcb64cde3a4f342bdb5be365c7c7209a0..8a2e5fffa3390076f1f40d0eb66edc665517df52 100644
--- a/src/node_device/node_device_udev.c
+++ b/src/node_device/node_device_udev.c
@@ -429,6 +429,7 @@ static int udevProcessPCI(struct udev_device *device,
     virPCIDeviceAddress addr;
     virPCIEDeviceInfoPtr pci_express = NULL;
     virPCIDevicePtr pciDev = NULL;
+    udevPrivate *priv = driverState->privateData;
     int tmpGroup, ret = -1;
     char *p;
     int rc;
@@ -544,7 +545,8 @@ static int udevProcessPCI(struct udev_device *device,
                                    data->pci_dev.function)))
         goto out;
 
-    if (virPCIDeviceIsPCIExpress(pciDev) > 0) {
+    /* We need to be root to read PCI device configs */
+    if (priv->privileged && virPCIDeviceIsPCIExpress(pciDev) > 0) {
         if (VIR_ALLOC(pci_express) < 0)
             goto out;