diff --git a/reload.sh b/reload.sh
index 7db803f88..5f3017b2e 100755
--- a/reload.sh
+++ b/reload.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,8 @@
 #!/bin/sh
+if [ `whoami` != 'root' ]; then
+    echo you have to be root or run with sudo
+    exit 1
+fi
 for service in pandora pandora-tasks pandora-encoding pandora-cron; do
     service $service reload
 done