diff --git a/packages/user-access/src/index.ts b/packages/user-access/src/index.ts
index 9c64a0ad..cbbaa122 100644
--- a/packages/user-access/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/user-access/src/index.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 import { isSudo, execRootSync } from "admina"
+import { statSync } from "fs"
 
 /**
- * Give the user access to the given path and its sub-directories. It changes the owner to the SUDO_USER. This allows
- * the user to use the folder without sudo
+ * Give the user access to the given path (and its sub-directories if a directory). It changes the owner to the
+ * SUDO_USER. This allows the user to use the folder without sudo
  *
  * @param path The path to give the user access to
  */
@@ -12,6 +13,11 @@ export function giveUserAccess(path: string) {
     isSudo() &&
     process.env.SUDO_USER !== undefined
   ) {
-    execRootSync("chown", ["-R", process.env.SUDO_USER, path], { cwd: path, stdio: "inherit", shell: true })
+    const isDirectory = statSync(path).isDirectory()
+    execRootSync("chown", [...(isDirectory ? ["-R"] : []), process.env.SUDO_USER, path], {
+      cwd: path,
+      stdio: "inherit",
+      shell: true,
+    })
   }
 }