diff --git a/CRT.h b/CRT.h
index ddd00169..91c2b89d 100644
--- a/CRT.h
+++ b/CRT.h
@@ -160,9 +160,6 @@ extern int CRT_scrollWheelVAmount;
 
 extern ColorScheme CRT_colorScheme;
 
-static inline void CRT_dropPrivileges(void) { }
-static inline void CRT_restorePrivileges(void) { }
-
 void CRT_init(const Settings* settings, bool allowUnicode);
 
 void CRT_done(void);
diff --git a/EnvScreen.c b/EnvScreen.c
index 4d7de7d9..bd8a2b03 100644
--- a/EnvScreen.c
+++ b/EnvScreen.c
@@ -34,9 +34,7 @@ static void EnvScreen_scan(InfoScreen* this) {
 
    Panel_prune(panel);
 
-   CRT_dropPrivileges();
    char* env = Platform_getProcessEnv(this->process->pid);
-   CRT_restorePrivileges();
    if (env) {
       for (const char* p = env; *p; p = strrchr(p, 0) + 1)
          InfoScreen_addLine(this, p);
diff --git a/Process.c b/Process.c
index 9ee7a0f8..3fbcb634 100644
--- a/Process.c
+++ b/Process.c
@@ -479,10 +479,9 @@ bool Process_isTomb(const Process* this) {
 }
 
 bool Process_setPriority(Process* this, int priority) {
-   CRT_dropPrivileges();
    int old_prio = getpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, this->pid);
    int err = setpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, this->pid, priority);
-   CRT_restorePrivileges();
+
    if (err == 0 && old_prio != getpriority(PRIO_PROCESS, this->pid)) {
       this->nice = priority;
    }
@@ -494,10 +493,7 @@ bool Process_changePriorityBy(Process* this, Arg delta) {
 }
 
 bool Process_sendSignal(Process* this, Arg sgn) {
-   CRT_dropPrivileges();
-   bool ok = (kill(this->pid, sgn.i) == 0);
-   CRT_restorePrivileges();
-   return ok;
+   return kill(this->pid, sgn.i) == 0;
 }
 
 int Process_pidCompare(const void* v1, const void* v2) {
diff --git a/Settings.c b/Settings.c
index a6ca7935..3c93bcd2 100644
--- a/Settings.c
+++ b/Settings.c
@@ -125,10 +125,7 @@ static void readFields(ProcessField* fields, uint32_t* flags, const char* line)
 }
 
 static bool Settings_read(Settings* this, const char* fileName, int initialCpuCount) {
-   FILE* fd;
-   CRT_dropPrivileges();
-   fd = fopen(fileName, "r");
-   CRT_restorePrivileges();
+   FILE* fd = fopen(fileName, "r");
    if (!fd)
       return false;
 
@@ -284,15 +281,10 @@ static void writeMeterModes(Settings* this, FILE* fd, int column) {
 }
 
 bool Settings_write(Settings* this) {
-   FILE* fd;
-
-   CRT_dropPrivileges();
-   fd = fopen(this->filename, "w");
-   CRT_restorePrivileges();
-
-   if (fd == NULL) {
+   FILE* fd = fopen(this->filename, "w");
+   if (fd == NULL)
       return false;
-   }
+
    fprintf(fd, "# Beware! This file is rewritten by htop when settings are changed in the interface.\n");
    fprintf(fd, "# The parser is also very primitive, and not human-friendly.\n");
    writeFields(fd, this->fields, "fields");
@@ -410,7 +402,6 @@ Settings* Settings_new(int initialCpuCount) {
          htopDir = String_cat(home, "/.config/htop");
       }
       legacyDotfile = String_cat(home, "/.htoprc");
-      CRT_dropPrivileges();
       (void) mkdir(configDir, 0700);
       (void) mkdir(htopDir, 0700);
       free(htopDir);
@@ -421,7 +412,6 @@ Settings* Settings_new(int initialCpuCount) {
          free(legacyDotfile);
          legacyDotfile = NULL;
       }
-      CRT_restorePrivileges();
    }
    this->colorScheme = 0;
    this->enableMouse = true;
diff --git a/TraceScreen.c b/TraceScreen.c
index 3e3971d7..c21e4802 100644
--- a/TraceScreen.c
+++ b/TraceScreen.c
@@ -87,8 +87,6 @@ bool TraceScreen_forkTracer(TraceScreen* this) {
       dup2(fdpair[1], STDERR_FILENO);
       close(fdpair[1]);
 
-      CRT_dropPrivileges();
-
       char buffer[32] = {0};
       xSnprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer), "%d", this->super.process->pid);
       execlp("strace", "strace", "-T", "-tt", "-s", "512", "-p", buffer, NULL);