diff --git a/INSTALL.md b/INSTALL.md
index f5f63bd..21cc0e0 100644
--- a/INSTALL.md
+++ b/INSTALL.md
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@
 
 ## Install
 
-Start by installing Go, Git, GCC and glibc (the program is written in Go, but a tiny bit of C code is used to drop privileges when running as root).  On Debian, run:
+Start by installing Go and Git.  On Debian, run:
 
 ```
-apt install golang git gcc libc6-dev
+apt install golang git
 ```
 
 Then fetch and build the program:
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ systemctl start client-hello-mirror.service
 
 ## Drop root
 
-A standard web-facing setup involves using a CA-signed certificate and binding to privileged port 443.  For security reasons, the program will drop root privileges imediately after loading the certificate and binding to the specified port.  Use the `-u` option to select a user to switch to; the default is `www-data`.
+A standard web-facing setup involves using a CA-signed certificate and binding to privileged port 443.  For security reasons, the program will drop root privileges imediately after loading the certificate and binding to the specified port.  Use the `-u` option to select a user to switch to.  If you really want to run as root, set `-u root` (not recommended).
 
 ## Redirect http:// to https://
 
diff --git a/server.go b/server.go
index 0714515..f945636 100644
--- a/server.go
+++ b/server.go
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 	"log"
 	"net"
 	"net/url"
+	"os"
 	"os/user"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
@@ -21,12 +22,6 @@ import (
 	"time"
 )
 
-import (
-	//#include <unistd.h>
-	//#include <errno.h>
-	"C"
-)
-
 type tlsConnectionInfo struct {
 	TlsVersion         uint16 `json:"tls_version"`
 	CipherSuite        uint16 `json:"cipher_suite"`
@@ -280,11 +275,11 @@ func main() {
 	// Parse arguments
 	flag.StringVar(&certFile, "c", "", "path to certificate file")
 	flag.StringVar(&keyFile, "k", "", "path to private key file")
-	flag.StringVar(&userToSwitchTo, "u", "www-data", "user to switch to, if running as root")
+	flag.StringVar(&userToSwitchTo, "u", "", "user to switch to, if running as root")
 	flag.Parse()
 	hostAndPort = flag.Arg(0)
 	if certFile == "" || keyFile == "" || hostAndPort == "" {
-		fmt.Println("usage: client-hello-mirror -c cert.pem -k key.pem host:port")
+		fmt.Println("usage: client-hello-mirror -c cert.pem -k key.pem [-u user] host:port")
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -310,36 +305,48 @@ func main() {
 	defer ln.Close()
 
 	// Drop root
-	if syscall.Getuid() == 0 {
+	if syscall.Getuid() == 0 {  // running as root
 		if userToSwitchTo == "" {
-			fmt.Println("Running as root. Please specify an unprivileged user to switch to, using the -u flag")
-			return
+			fmt.Println("When running as root, use the -u option to switch to an unprivileged user.")
+			os.Exit(1)
 		}
+		// Get user and group IDs for the user we want to switch to.
 		userInfo, err := user.Lookup(userToSwitchTo)
 		if err != nil {
 			fmt.Println(err)
-			if userToSwitchTo == "www-data" {
-				fmt.Println("Running as root. Please specify an unprivileged user to switch to, using the -u flag")
-			}
-			return
+			os.Exit(1)
 		}
-		uid, err := strconv.ParseInt(userInfo.Uid, 10, 32)
+		// Convert group id and user id from string to int.
+		gid, err := strconv.Atoi(userInfo.Gid)
 		if err != nil {
 			fmt.Println(err)
-			return
+			os.Exit(1)
 		}
-		gid, err := strconv.ParseInt(userInfo.Gid, 10, 32)
+		uid, err := strconv.Atoi(userInfo.Uid)
 		if err != nil {
 			fmt.Println(err)
-			return
+			os.Exit(1)
 		}
-		cerr, errno := C.setgid(C.__gid_t(gid))
-		if cerr != 0 {
-			log.Fatalln("Unable to set GID due to error:", errno)
+		if uid == 0 {
+			fmt.Println("WARNING: running as root is not recommended!")
 		}
-		cerr, errno = C.setuid(C.__uid_t(uid))
-		if cerr != 0 {
-			log.Fatalln("Unable to set UID due to error:", errno)
+		// Unset supplementary group IDs.
+		err = syscall.Setgroups([]int{})
+		if err != nil {
+			fmt.Println("Failed to unset supplementary group IDs: " + err.Error())
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+		// Set group ID.
+		err = syscall.Setgid(gid)
+		if err != nil {
+			fmt.Println("Failed to set group ID: " + err.Error())
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+		// Set user ID.
+		err = syscall.Setuid(uid)
+		if err != nil {
+			fmt.Println("Failed to set user ID: " + err.Error())
+			os.Exit(1)
 		}
 	}