diff --git a/Gomfile b/Gomfile
index 929235a6..c96908e4 100644
--- a/Gomfile
+++ b/Gomfile
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ gom 'github.com/ugorji/go/codec', :commit => '71c2886f5a673a35f909803f38ece58101
 gom 'github.com/vaughan0/go-ini', :commit => 'a98ad7ee00ec53921f08832bc06ecf7fd600e6a1'
 gom 'github.com/wsxiaoys/terminal/color', :commit => '5668e431776a7957528361f90ce828266c69ed08'
 gom 'golang.org/x/crypto/ssh/terminal', :commit => 'a7ead6ddf06233883deca151dffaef2effbf498f'
+gom 'golang.org/x/sys/unix', :commit => '7a6e5648d140666db5d920909e082ca00a87ba2c'
 
 group :test do
     gom 'gopkg.in/check.v1'
diff --git a/cmd/api_serve.go b/cmd/api_serve.go
index fd4c765b..7064a1aa 100644
--- a/cmd/api_serve.go
+++ b/cmd/api_serve.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package cmd
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"github.com/smira/aptly/api"
+	"github.com/smira/aptly/utils"
 	"github.com/smira/commander"
 	"github.com/smira/flag"
 	"net/http"
@@ -18,6 +19,17 @@ func aptlyAPIServe(cmd *commander.Command, args []string) error {
 		return commander.ErrCommandError
 	}
 
+	// There are only two working options for aptly's rootDir:
+	//   1. rootDir does not exist, then we'll create it
+	//   2. rootDir exists and is writable
+	// anything else must fail.
+	// E.g.: Running the service under a different user may lead to a rootDir
+	// that exists but is not usable due to access permissions.
+	err = utils.DirIsAccessible(context.Config().RootDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	listen := context.Flags().Lookup("listen").Value.String()
 
 	fmt.Printf("\nStarting web server at: %s (press Ctrl+C to quit)...\n", listen)
diff --git a/cmd/serve.go b/cmd/serve.go
index d1c19e03..03aabdf1 100644
--- a/cmd/serve.go
+++ b/cmd/serve.go
@@ -22,6 +22,17 @@ func aptlyServe(cmd *commander.Command, args []string) error {
 		return commander.ErrCommandError
 	}
 
+	// There are only two working options for aptly's rootDir:
+	//   1. rootDir does not exist, then we'll create it
+	//   2. rootDir exists and is writable
+	// anything else must fail.
+	// E.g.: Running the service under a different user may lead to a rootDir
+	// that exists but is not usable due to access permissions.
+	err = utils.DirIsAccessible(context.Config().RootDir)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	if context.CollectionFactory().PublishedRepoCollection().Len() == 0 {
 		fmt.Printf("No published repositories, unable to serve.\n")
 		return nil
diff --git a/system/t07_serve/RootDirInaccessible_gold b/system/t07_serve/RootDirInaccessible_gold
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8933b9cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/system/t07_serve/RootDirInaccessible_gold
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+ERROR: '/root' is inaccessible, check access rights
diff --git a/system/t07_serve/__init__.py b/system/t07_serve/__init__.py
index 063f72da..1fb6e655 100644
--- a/system/t07_serve/__init__.py
+++ b/system/t07_serve/__init__.py
@@ -8,9 +8,24 @@ import signal
 import subprocess
 import shlex
 import time
+import errno
 
 from lib import BaseTest
+from socket import error as socket_error
 
+class RootDirInaccessible(BaseTest):
+    """
+    serve command aborts if rootDir is inaccessible
+    """
+    fixtureDB = False
+    fixturePool = False
+
+    configOverride = {
+        "rootDir": "/root" # any directory that exists but is not writable
+    }
+
+    runCmd = "aptly serve -listen=127.0.0.1:8765"
+    expectedCode = 1
 
 class Serve1Test(BaseTest):
     """
diff --git a/utils/utils.go b/utils/utils.go
index d4d17a23..96d11f57 100644
--- a/utils/utils.go
+++ b/utils/utils.go
@@ -1,2 +1,23 @@
 // Package utils collects various services: simple operations, compression, etc.
 package utils
+
+import (
+  "fmt"
+  "os"
+  "golang.org/x/sys/unix"
+)
+
+// check if directory exists and is accessible
+func DirIsAccessible(filename string) error {
+  _, err := os.Stat(filename);
+  if err != nil {
+    if ! os.IsNotExist(err) {
+      return fmt.Errorf("Something went wrong, %v", err)
+    }
+  } else {
+    if unix.Access(filename, unix.W_OK) != nil {
+      return fmt.Errorf("'%s' is inaccessible, check access rights", filename)
+    }
+  }
+  return nil
+}