diff --git a/libweston/compositor-drm.c b/libweston/compositor-drm.c
index 0b243577..1b4db513 100644
--- a/libweston/compositor-drm.c
+++ b/libweston/compositor-drm.c
@@ -4039,8 +4039,9 @@ drm_backend_create(struct weston_compositor *compositor,
 	compositor->launcher = weston_launcher_connect(compositor, config->tty,
 						       seat_id, true);
 	if (compositor->launcher == NULL) {
-		weston_log("fatal: drm backend should be run "
-			   "using weston-launch binary or as root\n");
+		weston_log("fatal: drm backend should be run using "
+			   "weston-launch binary, or your system should "
+			   "provide the logind D-Bus API.\n");
 		goto err_compositor;
 	}
 
diff --git a/libweston/compositor-fbdev.c b/libweston/compositor-fbdev.c
index 4b3605cf..fbab634b 100644
--- a/libweston/compositor-fbdev.c
+++ b/libweston/compositor-fbdev.c
@@ -736,8 +736,9 @@ fbdev_backend_create(struct weston_compositor *compositor,
 	compositor->launcher =
 		weston_launcher_connect(compositor, param->tty, "seat0", false);
 	if (!compositor->launcher) {
-		weston_log("fatal: fbdev backend should be run "
-			   "using weston-launch binary or as root\n");
+		weston_log("fatal: fbdev backend should be run using "
+			   "weston-launch binary, or your system should "
+			   "provide the logind D-Bus API.\n");
 		goto out_udev;
 	}