diff -rupN irssi-0.8.15/src/fe-common/core/fe-exec.c irssi-0.8.15-patched/src/fe-common/core/fe-exec.c
--- irssi-0.8.15/src/fe-common/core/fe-exec.c	2010-04-03 18:19:24.000000000 +0200
+++ irssi-0.8.15-patched/src/fe-common/core/fe-exec.c	2013-12-10 16:40:15.015052397 +0100
@@ -317,8 +317,10 @@ static void process_exec(PROCESS_REC *re
 
 	/* child process, try to clean up everything */
 	setsid();
-	setuid(getuid());
-	setgid(getgid());
+        if ( (setgid(getgid()) != 0) || (setuid(getuid()) != 0) ){
+           printf(stderr, "Failed to drop privileges\n");
+           exit(-1):
+        }
 	signal(SIGINT, SIG_IGN);
 	signal(SIGQUIT, SIG_DFL);
 
