diff --git a/desktop/flipper-server-core/src/devices/android/androidContainerUtility.tsx b/desktop/flipper-server-core/src/devices/android/androidContainerUtility.tsx
index de658d0c5..8b2f3cc71 100644
--- a/desktop/flipper-server-core/src/devices/android/androidContainerUtility.tsx
+++ b/desktop/flipper-server-core/src/devices/android/androidContainerUtility.tsx
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ const allowedAppNameRegex = /^[\w.-]+$/;
 const appNotApplicationRegex = /not an application/;
 const appNotDebuggableRegex = /debuggable/;
 const operationNotPermittedRegex = /not permitted/;
+const permissionDeniedRegex = /permission denied/;
 const logTag = 'androidContainerUtility';
 
 export type AppName = string;
@@ -66,6 +67,7 @@ function validateFileContent(content: string): void {
 enum RunAsErrorCode {
   NotAnApp = 1,
   NotDebuggable = 2,
+  PermissionDenied = 3,
 }
 
 class RunAsError extends Error {
@@ -177,6 +179,12 @@ function _executeCommandWithRunner(
           `Your android device (${deviceId}) does not support the adb shell run-as command. We're tracking this at https://github.com/facebook/flipper/issues/92`,
         );
       }
+      if (output.toLowerCase().match(permissionDeniedRegex)) {
+        throw new RunAsError(
+          RunAsErrorCode.PermissionDenied,
+          `No permission to run-as application. To use it with Flipper, either run adb as root or allow running as app`,
+        );
+      }
       return output;
     });
 }