diff --git a/archivebox/config/legacy.py b/archivebox/config/legacy.py
index 6b3bd94b..33aeca2b 100644
--- a/archivebox/config/legacy.py
+++ b/archivebox/config/legacy.py
@@ -596,8 +596,8 @@ def setup_django(out_dir: Path | None=None, check_db=False, config: benedict=CON
                 except Exception as e:
                     bump_startup_progress_bar(advance=1000)
                     
-                    subcommand = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else 'unknown'
-                    if subcommand not in ('help', 'version', '--help', '--version'):
+                    is_using_meta_cmd = any(ignored_subcommand in sys.argv for ignored_subcommand in ('help', 'version', '--help', '--version'))
+                    if not is_using_meta_cmd:
                         # show error message to user only if they're not running a meta command / just trying to get help
                         STDERR.print()
                         STDERR.print(Panel(
diff --git a/archivebox/config/permissions.py b/archivebox/config/permissions.py
index d2d49492..67f27661 100644
--- a/archivebox/config/permissions.py
+++ b/archivebox/config/permissions.py
@@ -27,13 +27,15 @@ RUNNING_AS_UID          = os.getuid()
 RUNNING_AS_GID          = os.getgid()
 EUID                    = os.geteuid()
 EGID                    = os.getegid()
+SUDO_UID                = int(os.environ.get('SUDO_UID', 0))
+SUDO_GID                = int(os.environ.get('SUDO_GID', 0))
 USER: str               = Path('~').expanduser().resolve().name
 
 IS_ROOT = RUNNING_AS_UID == 0
 IN_DOCKER = os.environ.get('IN_DOCKER', False) in ('1', 'true', 'True', 'TRUE', 'yes')
 
-FALLBACK_UID = RUNNING_AS_UID
-FALLBACK_GID = RUNNING_AS_GID
+FALLBACK_UID = RUNNING_AS_UID or SUDO_UID
+FALLBACK_GID = RUNNING_AS_GID or SUDO_GID
 if RUNNING_AS_UID == 0:
     try:
         # if we are running as root it's really hard to figure out what the correct archivebox user should be
@@ -101,7 +103,7 @@ def drop_privileges():
             os.environ['USER']     = pw_record.pw_name
 
     if ARCHIVEBOX_USER == 0 or not ARCHIVEBOX_USER_EXISTS:
-        print('[yellow]:warning:  Running as [red]root[/red] is not recommended and may make your [blue]DATA_DIR[/blue] inaccessible to other users on your system.[/yellow]', file=sys.stderr)
+        print('[yellow]:warning:  Running as [red]root[/red] is not recommended and may make your [blue]DATA_DIR[/blue] inaccessible to other users on your system.[/yellow] (use [blue]sudo[/blue] instead)', file=sys.stderr)
 
 
 @contextmanager