diff --git a/src/systemctl/systemctl-compat-halt.c b/src/systemctl/systemctl-compat-halt.c
index 4f6e304816..9d69230097 100644
--- a/src/systemctl/systemctl-compat-halt.c
+++ b/src/systemctl/systemctl-compat-halt.c
@@ -180,10 +180,9 @@ int halt_main(void) {
                         return start_with_fallback();
         }
 
-        if (geteuid() != 0) {
-                (void) must_be_root();
-                return -EPERM;
-        }
+        r = must_be_root();
+        if (r < 0)
+                return r;
 
         if (!arg_no_wtmp) {
                 if (sd_booted() > 0)