diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index 1bfe6baa81cc73a29f42f28286ad946d809b9f36..48b3fd85872a5461049f824cb7d4a7da6cd2bb53 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -2,4 +2,3 @@
 # defaults file for deploy-key
 deploy_key_users:
     - nobody
-    - root
diff --git a/tasks/main.yml b/tasks/main.yml
index b87e65d4d6480501b5bf4c4978592fb4f86d2a55..49367d2a63c4fa0b28bd7767c4fb89f9e5fe61ef 100644
--- a/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/tasks/main.yml
@@ -37,12 +37,17 @@
       name: git
       state: present
 
+- name: Get the nobody uid
+  command: id -u nobody
+  changed_when: False
+  register: deploy_key_nobody_uid
+
 - name: Copy the deployment key
   copy:
       content: '{{ deploy_key }}'
-      owner: root
+      owner: '{{ deploy_key_nobody_uid.stdout.strip()|int -1 }}'
       group: deploy
-      mode: 0o0440
+      mode: 0o0040
       dest: /etc/ssh/deploy.key
 
 - name: Configure SSH to use the deploy key