diff --git a/nova/cmd/compute.py b/nova/cmd/compute.py
index 40e5b2bd5dd1..5e10b0eb5f13 100644
--- a/nova/cmd/compute.py
+++ b/nova/cmd/compute.py
@@ -16,10 +16,12 @@
 
 """Starter script for Nova Compute."""
 
+import shlex
 import sys
 import traceback
 
 from oslo_log import log as logging
+from oslo_privsep import priv_context
 from oslo_reports import guru_meditation_report as gmr
 
 from nova.conductor import rpcapi as conductor_rpcapi
@@ -55,6 +57,7 @@ def block_db_access():
 def main():
     config.parse_args(sys.argv)
     logging.setup(CONF, 'nova')
+    priv_context.init(root_helper=shlex.split(utils.get_root_helper()))
     utils.monkey_patch()
     objects.register_all()
 
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 9ca6961a1374..c4f27d26562d 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ oslo.db>=4.1.0 # Apache-2.0
 oslo.rootwrap>=2.0.0 # Apache-2.0
 oslo.messaging>=5.2.0 # Apache-2.0
 oslo.policy>=1.9.0 # Apache-2.0
+oslo.privsep>=1.9.0  # Apache-2.0
 oslo.i18n>=2.1.0 # Apache-2.0
 oslo.service>=1.10.0 # Apache-2.0
 rfc3986>=0.2.0 # Apache-2.0