diff --git a/install/main.go b/install/main.go
index a0d74a43..d1ec85eb 100644
--- a/install/main.go
+++ b/install/main.go
@@ -58,9 +58,11 @@ func main() {
 	reader := bufio.NewReader(os.Stdin)
 
 	// check if the user is root
-	if os.Geteuid() != 0 {
-		fmt.Println("This script must be run as root")
-		os.Exit(1)
+	if !isDockerInstalled() {
+		if os.Geteuid() != 0 {
+			fmt.Println("Docker is not installed. Please install Docker manually or run this installer as root.")
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
 	}
 
 	var config Config
@@ -619,4 +621,4 @@ func generateRandomSecretKey() string {
 		b[i] = charset[seededRand.Intn(len(charset))]
 	}
 	return string(b)
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}