diff -aur ncbi-vdb-2.9.3/build/Makefile.install src/ncbi-vdb-2.9.3/build/Makefile.install
--- ncbi-vdb-2.9.3/build/Makefile.install	2018-10-17 16:41:58.000000000 -0400
+++ src/ncbi-vdb-2.9.3/build/Makefile.install	2018-11-10 15:42:30.394214052 -0500
@@ -38,11 +38,7 @@
 #fake root for debugging
 #uncomment this line and change the following test for root ( see under install: ) to succeed:
 #ROOT = ~/root
-ifeq (linux, $(OS))
-    ifeq (0, $(shell id -u))
-        LINUX_ROOT = true
-    endif
-endif
+LINUX_ROOT = false
 
 ifeq (true, $(LINUX_ROOT))
     KONFIG_DIR = $(ROOT)/etc/ncbi