diff --git a/conf/configuration.go b/conf/configuration.go
index 0b44f8f62..916efe70b 100644
--- a/conf/configuration.go
+++ b/conf/configuration.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ type configOptions struct {
 	Address                         string
 	Port                            int
 	UnixSocketPerm                  string
+	EnforceNonRootUser              bool
 	MusicFolder                     string
 	DataFolder                      string
 	CacheFolder                     string
@@ -273,6 +274,12 @@ var logFatal = func(args ...any) {
 	os.Exit(1)
 }
 
+var getEUID = os.Geteuid
+
+var currentGOOS = func() string {
+	return runtime.GOOS
+}
+
 var (
 	Server = &configOptions{}
 	hooks  []func()
@@ -303,6 +310,11 @@ func Load(noConfigDump bool) {
 		logFatal("Error parsing config:", err)
 	}
 
+	// Validate non-root user early, before any filesystem operations
+	if err := validateEnforceNonRootUser(); err != nil {
+		logFatal(err)
+	}
+
 	err = os.MkdirAll(Server.DataFolder, os.ModePerm)
 	if err != nil {
 		logFatal("Error creating data path:", err)
@@ -599,6 +611,18 @@ func validateMaxImageUploadSize() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func validateEnforceNonRootUser() error {
+	if !Server.EnforceNonRootUser || currentGOOS() == "windows" {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	if getEUID() == 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("EnforceNonRootUser is enabled but Navidrome is running as root")
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 func validateScanSchedule() error {
 	if Server.Scanner.Schedule == "0" || Server.Scanner.Schedule == "" {
 		Server.Scanner.Schedule = ""
@@ -698,6 +722,7 @@ func setViperDefaults() {
 	viper.SetDefault("address", "0.0.0.0")
 	viper.SetDefault("port", 4533)
 	viper.SetDefault("unixsocketperm", "0660")
+	viper.SetDefault("enforcenonrootuser", false)
 	viper.SetDefault("sessiontimeout", consts.DefaultSessionTimeout)
 	viper.SetDefault("baseurl", "")
 	viper.SetDefault("tlscert", "")
diff --git a/conf/configuration_test.go b/conf/configuration_test.go
index 121b1902c..5d4e73fad 100644
--- a/conf/configuration_test.go
+++ b/conf/configuration_test.go
@@ -250,6 +250,49 @@ var _ = Describe("Configuration", func() {
 		)
 	})
 
+	Describe("EnforceNonRootUser", func() {
+		It("defaults to false", func() {
+			conf.Load(true)
+
+			Expect(conf.Server.EnforceNonRootUser).To(BeFalse())
+		})
+
+		It("allows startup for non-root users when enabled", func() {
+			DeferCleanup(conf.SetRuntimeInfoForTest("linux", 1000))
+			viper.Set("enforcenonrootuser", true)
+
+			conf.Load(true)
+
+			Expect(conf.Server.EnforceNonRootUser).To(BeTrue())
+		})
+
+		It("exits when enabled and running as root without having created a data folder", func() {
+			// Create a path that doesn't exist yet
+			tempBase := GinkgoT().TempDir()
+			nonExistentDataFolder := filepath.Join(tempBase, "nonexistent", "data")
+			DeferCleanup(conf.SetRuntimeInfoForTest("linux", 0))
+			viper.Set("enforcenonrootuser", true)
+			viper.Set("datafolder", nonExistentDataFolder)
+
+			// Attempt to load config as root user - should fail before creating directories
+			Expect(func() {
+				conf.Load(true)
+			}).To(PanicWith(ContainSubstring("EnforceNonRootUser is enabled but Navidrome is running as root")))
+
+			// Verify that the data folder was NOT created
+			Expect(nonExistentDataFolder).ToNot(BeAnExistingFile())
+		})
+
+		It("is a no-op on non-unix platforms", func() {
+			DeferCleanup(conf.SetRuntimeInfoForTest("windows", 0))
+			viper.Set("enforcenonrootuser", true)
+
+			conf.Load(true)
+
+			Expect(conf.Server.EnforceNonRootUser).To(BeTrue())
+		})
+	})
+
 	DescribeTable("should load configuration from",
 		func(format string) {
 			filename := filepath.Join("testdata", "cfg."+format)
diff --git a/conf/export_test.go b/conf/export_test.go
index 85755aa12..acebca551 100644
--- a/conf/export_test.go
+++ b/conf/export_test.go
@@ -16,6 +16,17 @@ var ToPascalCase = toPascalCase
 
 var ValidateMaxImageUploadSize = validateMaxImageUploadSize
 
+func SetRuntimeInfoForTest(goos string, euid int) func() {
+	oldGOOS := currentGOOS
+	oldEUID := getEUID
+	currentGOOS = func() string { return goos }
+	getEUID = func() int { return euid }
+	return func() {
+		currentGOOS = oldGOOS
+		getEUID = oldEUID
+	}
+}
+
 func SetLogFatal(f func(...any)) func() {
 	old := logFatal
 	logFatal = f