diff --git a/src/remote/remote_daemon.c b/src/remote/remote_daemon.c
index 2f9dfad4436f7e6b9cdb9674531ebbfc6d92fc2b..31c6ce1b61794bfe4d1360e687e11f044ce16561 100644
--- a/src/remote/remote_daemon.c
+++ b/src/remote/remote_daemon.c
@@ -675,30 +675,6 @@ daemonVersion(const char *argv0)
     printf("%s (%s) %s\n", argv0, PACKAGE_NAME, PACKAGE_VERSION);
 }
 
-#ifdef __sun
-static int
-daemonSetupPrivs(void)
-{
-    chown("/var/run/libvirt", SYSTEM_UID, SYSTEM_UID);
-
-    if (__init_daemon_priv(PU_RESETGROUPS | PU_CLEARLIMITSET,
-                           SYSTEM_UID, SYSTEM_UID, PRIV_XVM_CONTROL, NULL)) {
-        VIR_ERROR(_("additional privileges are required"));
-        return -1;
-    }
-
-    if (priv_set(PRIV_OFF, PRIV_ALLSETS, PRIV_FILE_LINK_ANY, PRIV_PROC_INFO,
-                 PRIV_PROC_SESSION, PRIV_PROC_EXEC, PRIV_PROC_FORK, NULL)) {
-        VIR_ERROR(_("failed to set reduced privileges"));
-        return -1;
-    }
-
-    return 0;
-}
-#else
-# define daemonSetupPrivs() 0
-#endif
-
 
 static void daemonShutdownHandler(virNetDaemonPtr dmn,
                                   siginfo_t *sig ATTRIBUTE_UNUSED,
@@ -1336,15 +1312,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
-    /* Beyond this point, nothing should rely on using
-     * getuid/geteuid() == 0, for privilege level checks.
-     */
-    VIR_DEBUG("Dropping privileges (if required)");
-    if (daemonSetupPrivs() < 0) {
-        ret = VIR_DAEMON_ERR_PRIVS;
-        goto cleanup;
-    }
-
     daemonInitialize();
 
     remoteProcs[REMOTE_PROC_AUTH_LIST].needAuth = false;
diff --git a/src/remote/remote_driver.c b/src/remote/remote_driver.c
index f765c09416560623a49b981af95ab15c2b31725e..34e5ced0a93a28bab340c82bd6bcf86f5154c28d 100644
--- a/src/remote/remote_driver.c
+++ b/src/remote/remote_driver.c
@@ -1350,7 +1350,6 @@ remoteConnectOpen(virConnectPtr conn,
      */
     if (!conn->uri) {
         VIR_DEBUG("Auto-probe remote URI");
-#ifndef __sun
         if (geteuid() > 0) {
             VIR_DEBUG("Auto-spawn user daemon instance");
             rflags |= VIR_DRV_OPEN_REMOTE_USER;
@@ -1359,7 +1358,6 @@ remoteConnectOpen(virConnectPtr conn,
                  STRNEQ(autostart, "0")))
                 rflags |= VIR_DRV_OPEN_REMOTE_AUTOSTART;
         }
-#endif
     }
 
     ret = doRemoteOpen(conn, priv, auth, conf, rflags);