diff --git a/src/sonic-config-engine/sonic-cfggen b/src/sonic-config-engine/sonic-cfggen
index b0a6295ad189..d895c0dde12c 100755
--- a/src/sonic-config-engine/sonic-cfggen
+++ b/src/sonic-config-engine/sonic-cfggen
@@ -350,10 +350,11 @@ def main():
         deep_update(data, json.loads(args.additional_data))
 
     if args.from_db:
+        use_unix_sock = True if os.getuid() == 0 else False
         if args.namespace is None:
-            configdb = ConfigDBPipeConnector(use_unix_socket_path=True, **db_kwargs)
+            configdb = ConfigDBPipeConnector(use_unix_socket_path=use_unix_sock, **db_kwargs)
         else:
-            configdb = ConfigDBPipeConnector(use_unix_socket_path=True, namespace=args.namespace, **db_kwargs)
+            configdb = ConfigDBPipeConnector(use_unix_socket_path=use_unix_sock, namespace=args.namespace, **db_kwargs)
 
         configdb.connect()
         deep_update(data, FormatConverter.db_to_output(configdb.get_config()))