diff --git a/tools/functional-tester/etcd-agent/agent.go b/tools/functional-tester/etcd-agent/agent.go
index b7be29096..beb276c61 100644
--- a/tools/functional-tester/etcd-agent/agent.go
+++ b/tools/functional-tester/etcd-agent/agent.go
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ type AgentConfig struct {
 	EtcdPath      string
 	LogDir        string
 	FailpointAddr string
-	UseRoot       bool
 }
 
 func newAgent(cfg AgentConfig) (*Agent, error) {
@@ -178,23 +177,14 @@ func (a *Agent) terminate() error {
 }
 
 func (a *Agent) dropPort(port int) error {
-	if !a.cfg.UseRoot {
-		return nil
-	}
 	return netutil.DropPort(port)
 }
 
 func (a *Agent) recoverPort(port int) error {
-	if !a.cfg.UseRoot {
-		return nil
-	}
 	return netutil.RecoverPort(port)
 }
 
 func (a *Agent) setLatency(ms, rv int) error {
-	if !a.cfg.UseRoot {
-		return nil
-	}
 	if ms == 0 {
 		return netutil.RemoveLatency()
 	}
diff --git a/tools/functional-tester/etcd-agent/main.go b/tools/functional-tester/etcd-agent/main.go
index 901750d8d..3ac85695d 100644
--- a/tools/functional-tester/etcd-agent/main.go
+++ b/tools/functional-tester/etcd-agent/main.go
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"flag"
-	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 
@@ -29,7 +28,6 @@ func main() {
 	etcdPath := flag.String("etcd-path", filepath.Join(os.Getenv("GOPATH"), "bin/etcd"), "the path to etcd binary")
 	etcdLogDir := flag.String("etcd-log-dir", "etcd-log", "directory to store etcd logs, data directories, failure archive")
 	port := flag.String("port", ":9027", "port to serve agent server")
-	useRoot := flag.Bool("use-root", true, "use root permissions")
 	failpointAddr := flag.String("failpoint-addr", ":2381", "interface for gofail's HTTP server")
 	flag.Parse()
 
@@ -37,17 +35,7 @@ func main() {
 		EtcdPath:      *etcdPath,
 		LogDir:        *etcdLogDir,
 		FailpointAddr: *failpointAddr,
-		UseRoot:       *useRoot,
 	}
-
-	if *useRoot && os.Getuid() != 0 {
-		fmt.Println("got --use-root=true but not root user")
-		os.Exit(1)
-	}
-	if !*useRoot {
-		fmt.Println("root permissions disabled, agent will not modify network")
-	}
-
 	a, err := newAgent(cfg)
 	if err != nil {
 		plog.Fatal(err)