diff --git a/src/kiwi/subcommands/utils/dockercommand.py b/src/kiwi/subcommands/utils/dockercommand.py
index 34cf42a..d0426bd 100644
--- a/src/kiwi/subcommands/utils/dockercommand.py
+++ b/src/kiwi/subcommands/utils/dockercommand.py
@@ -33,27 +33,28 @@ def _update_kwargs(config, args, **kwargs):
 
 
 class DockerCommand(Executable):
-    __requires_root = None
+    __has_tried = False
 
     def __init__(self, exe_name):
         super().__init__(exe_name)
 
-        if DockerCommand.__requires_root is None:
+        if not DockerCommand.__has_tried:
             try:
                 Executable('docker').run(
                     ['ps'],
                     check=True, stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL, stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL
                 )
-                DockerCommand.__requires_root = False
+                DockerCommand.__has_tried = True
+
             except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
-                DockerCommand.__requires_root = True
+                raise PermissionError("Cannot access docker, please get into the docker group or run as root!")
 
     def run(self, config, args, process_args, **kwargs):
         kwargs = _update_kwargs(config, args, **kwargs)
 
         # equivalent to 'super().run' but agnostic of nested class construct
         return super().__getattr__("run")(
-            process_args, config, DockerCommand.__requires_root,
+            process_args, config,
             **kwargs
         )
 
@@ -61,6 +62,6 @@ class DockerCommand(Executable):
         kwargs = _update_kwargs(config, args, **kwargs)
 
         return super().__getattr__("run_less")(
-            process_args, config, DockerCommand.__requires_root,
+            process_args, config,
             **kwargs
         )
diff --git a/src/kiwi/subcommands/utils/executable.py b/src/kiwi/subcommands/utils/executable.py
index e1116ad..4b7fecb 100644
--- a/src/kiwi/subcommands/utils/executable.py
+++ b/src/kiwi/subcommands/utils/executable.py
@@ -42,37 +42,34 @@ class Executable:
         def __init__(self, exe_name):
             self.__exe_path = _find_exe_file(exe_name)
 
-        def __build_cmd(self, args, requires_root=False, **kwargs):
+        def __build_cmd(self, args, **kwargs):
             cmd = [self.__exe_path, *args]
 
-            if requires_root:
-                self.__exe_path = [_find_exe_file("sudo"), self.__exe_path]
-
             logging.debug(f"Executable cmd{cmd}, kwargs{kwargs}")
             return cmd
 
-        def run(self, process_args, config=None, requires_root=False, **kwargs):
+        def run(self, process_args, config=None, **kwargs):
             kwargs = _update_kwargs(config, **kwargs)
 
             return subprocess.run(
-                self.__build_cmd(process_args, requires_root, **kwargs),
+                self.__build_cmd(process_args, **kwargs),
                 **kwargs
             )
 
-        def Popen(self, process_args, config=None, requires_root=False, **kwargs):
+        def Popen(self, process_args, config=None, **kwargs):
             kwargs = _update_kwargs(config, **kwargs)
 
             return subprocess.Popen(
-                self.__build_cmd(process_args, requires_root, **kwargs),
+                self.__build_cmd(process_args, **kwargs),
                 **kwargs
             )
 
-        def run_less(self, process_args, config=None, requires_root=False, **kwargs):
+        def run_less(self, process_args, config=None, **kwargs):
             kwargs['stdout'] = subprocess.PIPE
             kwargs['stderr'] = subprocess.DEVNULL
 
             process = self.Popen(
-                process_args, config, requires_root,
+                process_args, config,
                 **kwargs
             )