diff --git a/src/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.cc b/src/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.cc
index 193fc598e..35e7ce907 100644
--- a/src/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/build/local-derivation-goal.cc
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 #include <sched.h>
 #include <sys/param.h>
 #include <sys/mount.h>
+#include <sys/prctl.h>
 #include <sys/syscall.h>
 #if HAVE_SECCOMP
 #include <seccomp.h>
@@ -1949,6 +1950,10 @@ void LocalDerivationGoal::runChild()
                 throw SysError("setuid failed");
 
             setUser = false;
+
+            // Make sure we can't possibly gain new privileges in the sandbox
+            if (prctl(PR_SET_NO_NEW_PRIVS, 1, 0, 0, 0) == -1)
+                throw SysError("PR_SET_NO_NEW_PRIVS failed");
         }
 #endif
 
diff --git a/tests/nixos/default.nix b/tests/nixos/default.nix
index 14fc0da81..3ef1217ac 100644
--- a/tests/nixos/default.nix
+++ b/tests/nixos/default.nix
@@ -160,4 +160,6 @@ in
   fetch-git = runNixOSTestFor "x86_64-linux" ./fetch-git;
 
   symlinkResolvconf = runNixOSTestFor "x86_64-linux" ./symlink-resolvconf.nix;
+
+  rootInSandbox = runNixOSTestFor "x86_64-linux" ./root-in-sandbox;
 }
diff --git a/tests/nixos/root-in-sandbox/default.nix b/tests/nixos/root-in-sandbox/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..110d83f86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/nixos/root-in-sandbox/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+let
+  inherit (import ../util.nix) mkNixBuildTest;
+in mkNixBuildTest {
+  name = "root-in-sandbox";
+  extraMachineConfig = { pkgs, ... }: {
+    security.wrappers.ohno = {
+      owner = "root";
+      group = "root";
+      setuid = true;
+      source = "${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/whoami";
+    };
+    nix.settings.extra-sandbox-paths = ["/run/wrappers/bin"];
+  };
+  expressionFile = ./package.nix;
+}
diff --git a/tests/nixos/root-in-sandbox/package.nix b/tests/nixos/root-in-sandbox/package.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a1069160c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/nixos/root-in-sandbox/package.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{ runCommand }:
+runCommand "cant-get-root-in-sandbox" {} ''
+  if /run/wrappers/bin/ohno; then
+    echo "Oh no! We're root in the sandbox!"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  touch $out
+''
diff --git a/tests/nixos/symlink-resolvconf.nix b/tests/nixos/symlink-resolvconf.nix
index 47df27524..6a7d24601 100644
--- a/tests/nixos/symlink-resolvconf.nix
+++ b/tests/nixos/symlink-resolvconf.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 { pkgs, ... }:
 let
+  # Can't use the cool helper because inputDerivation does not work with FODs :(
   checkResolvconfInSandbox = pkgs.runCommand "resolvconf-works-in-sandbox" {
     # must be an FOD to have a resolv.conf in the first place
     outputHash = "sha256-47DEQpj8HBSa+/TImW+5JCeuQeRkm5NMpJWZG3hSuFU=";
diff --git a/tests/nixos/util.nix b/tests/nixos/util.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0c51cc075
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/nixos/util.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+{
+  mkNixBuildTest = { name, expressionFile, extraMachineConfig ? {} }:
+    { lib, pkgs, ... }:
+    {
+      inherit name;
+
+      nodes.machine = {
+        imports = [extraMachineConfig];
+        nix.nixPath = ["nixpkgs=${pkgs.path}"];
+        nix.settings.substituters = lib.mkForce [];
+        virtualisation.additionalPaths = [
+          expressionFile
+          (pkgs.callPackage expressionFile {}).inputDerivation
+        ];
+      };
+
+      testScript = { nodes }: ''
+        start_all()
+
+        machine.succeed('nix-build --expr "let pkgs = import <nixpkgs> {}; in pkgs.callPackage ${expressionFile} {}"')
+      '';
+    };
+}