diff --git a/entrypoint.sh b/entrypoint.sh
index 05363d3..f04dd6d 100755
--- a/entrypoint.sh
+++ b/entrypoint.sh
@@ -4,40 +4,57 @@ set -x
 set -e
 
 [ -z "${SIGNAL_CLI_CONFIG_DIR}" ] && echo "SIGNAL_CLI_CONFIG_DIR environmental variable needs to be set! Aborting!" && exit 1;
+[ -z "${SIGNAL_CLI_UID}" ] && echo "SIGNAL_CLI_UID environmental variable needs to be set! Aborting!" && exit 1;
+[ -z "${SIGNAL_CLI_GID}" ] && echo "SIGNAL_CLI_GID environmental variable needs to be set! Aborting!" && exit 1;
 
-usermod -u ${SIGNAL_CLI_UID} signal-api
-groupmod -o -g ${SIGNAL_CLI_GID} signal-api
-
-# Fix permissions to ensure backward compatibility if SIGNAL_CLI_CHOWN_ON_STARTUP is not set to "false"
-if [ "$SIGNAL_CLI_CHOWN_ON_STARTUP" != "false" ]; then
-  echo "Changing ownership of ${SIGNAL_CLI_CONFIG_DIR} to ${SIGNAL_CLI_UID}:${SIGNAL_CLI_GID}"
-  chown ${SIGNAL_CLI_UID}:${SIGNAL_CLI_GID} -R ${SIGNAL_CLI_CONFIG_DIR}
-else
-  echo "Skipping chown on startup since SIGNAL_CLI_CHOWN_ON_STARTUP is set to 'false'"
+# Check if we are already running as the target user and group
+RUNNING_AS_TARGET_USER=false
+if [ "$(id -u)" -eq "${SIGNAL_CLI_UID}" ] && [ "$(id -g)" -eq "${SIGNAL_CLI_GID}" ]; then
+  RUNNING_AS_TARGET_USER=true
 fi
 
-# Show warning on docker exec
-cat <<EOF >> /root/.bashrc
+if [ "$RUNNING_AS_TARGET_USER" = "true" ]; then
+  echo "Already running as UID ${SIGNAL_CLI_UID} and GID ${SIGNAL_CLI_GID}. Skipping privileged operations."
+else
+  echo "Adjusting user and group IDs to ${SIGNAL_CLI_UID}:${SIGNAL_CLI_GID}"
+  usermod -u "${SIGNAL_CLI_UID}" signal-api
+  groupmod -o -g "${SIGNAL_CLI_GID}" signal-api
+
+  # Fix permissions to ensure backward compatibility if SIGNAL_CLI_CHOWN_ON_STARTUP is not set to "false"
+  if [ "$SIGNAL_CLI_CHOWN_ON_STARTUP" != "false" ]; then
+    echo "Changing ownership of ${SIGNAL_CLI_CONFIG_DIR} to ${SIGNAL_CLI_UID}:${SIGNAL_CLI_GID}"
+    chown "${SIGNAL_CLI_UID}":"${SIGNAL_CLI_GID}" -R "${SIGNAL_CLI_CONFIG_DIR}"
+  else
+    echo "Skipping chown on startup since SIGNAL_CLI_CHOWN_ON_STARTUP is set to 'false'"
+  fi
+
+  # Show warning on docker exec
+  cat <<EOF >> /root/.bashrc
 echo "WARNING: signal-cli-rest-api runs as signal-api (not as root!)" 
 echo "Run 'su signal-api' before using signal-cli!"
 echo "If you want to use signal-cli directly, don't forget to specify the config directory. e.g: \"signal-cli --config ${SIGNAL_CLI_CONFIG_DIR}\""
 EOF
-
-cap_prefix="-cap_"
-caps="$cap_prefix$(seq -s ",$cap_prefix" 0 $(cat /proc/sys/kernel/cap_last_cap))"
+fi
 
 # TODO: check mode
-if [ "$MODE" = "json-rpc" ]
-then
-/usr/bin/jsonrpc2-helper
-if [ -n "$JAVA_OPTS" ] ; then
-    echo "export JAVA_OPTS='$JAVA_OPTS'" >> /etc/default/supervisor
-fi
-service supervisor start
-supervisorctl start all
+if [ "$MODE" = "json-rpc" ]; then
+  /usr/bin/jsonrpc2-helper
+  if [ -n "$JAVA_OPTS" ]; then
+      echo "export JAVA_OPTS='$JAVA_OPTS'" >> /etc/default/supervisor
+  fi
+  service supervisor start
+  supervisorctl start all
 fi
 
 export HOST_IP=$(hostname -I | awk '{print $1}')
 
 # Start API as signal-api user
-exec setpriv --reuid=${SIGNAL_CLI_UID} --regid=${SIGNAL_CLI_GID} --init-groups --inh-caps=$caps signal-cli-rest-api -signal-cli-config=${SIGNAL_CLI_CONFIG_DIR}
+if [ "$RUNNING_AS_TARGET_USER" = "true" ]; then
+  # Already running as the target user, start directly
+  exec signal-cli-rest-api -signal-cli-config="${SIGNAL_CLI_CONFIG_DIR}"
+else
+  # Use setpriv to switch to target user
+  cap_prefix="-cap_"
+  caps="$cap_prefix$(seq -s ",$cap_prefix" 0 $(cat /proc/sys/kernel/cap_last_cap))"
+  exec setpriv --reuid="${SIGNAL_CLI_UID}" --regid="${SIGNAL_CLI_GID}" --init-groups --inh-caps="$caps" signal-cli-rest-api -signal-cli-config="${SIGNAL_CLI_CONFIG_DIR}"
+fi