--- shellinabox/shellinaboxd.c
+++ shellinabox/shellinaboxd.c
@@ -786,6 +786,7 @@
 }
 
 static void usage(void) {
+#if defined(PROBE_UID_GID_BY_DROPPING_PRIVILEGES)
   // Drop privileges so that we can tell which uid/gid we would normally
   // run at.
   dropPrivileges();
@@ -795,6 +796,10 @@
   check(!getresgid(&r_gid, &e_gid, &s_gid));
   const char *user  = getUserName(r_uid);
   const char *group = getGroupName(r_gid);
+#else
+  const char user[]  = DEFAULT_USER;
+  const char group[] = DEFAULT_GROUP;
+#endif
 
   printf("Usage: shellinaboxd [OPTIONS]...\n"
           "Starts an HTTP server that serves terminal emulators to AJAX "
@@ -875,8 +880,10 @@
           "  -t, --disable-ssl           disable transparent SSL support\n"
           "      --disable-ssl-menu      disallow changing transport mode\n",
           user, supportsPAM() ? "'AUTH' | " : "");
+#if defined(PROBE_UID_GID_BY_DROPPING_PRIVILEGES)
   free((char *)user);
   free((char *)group);
+#endif
 }
 
 static void destroyExternalFileHashEntry(void *arg ATTR_UNUSED, char *key,