diff --git a/bin/openerp-server.py b/bin/openerp-server.py
index 9486d6e49d5..8d210fc2906 100755
--- a/bin/openerp-server.py
+++ b/bin/openerp-server.py
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ GNU Public Licence.
 #----------------------------------------------------------
 import logging
 import os
-import pwd
 import signal
 import sys
 import threading
@@ -45,11 +44,13 @@ import release
 __author__ = release.author
 __version__ = release.version
 
-# We DON't log this using the standard logger, because we might mess
-# with the logfile's permissions. Just do a quick exit here.
-if pwd.getpwuid(os.getuid())[0] == 'root' :
-    sys.stderr.write("Attempted to run OpenERP server as root. This is not good, aborting.\n")
-    sys.exit(1)
+if os.name == 'posix':
+    import pwd
+    # We DON't log this using the standard logger, because we might mess
+    # with the logfile's permissions. Just do a quick exit here.
+    if pwd.getpwuid(os.getuid())[0] == 'root' :
+        sys.stderr.write("Attempted to run OpenERP server as root. This is not good, aborting.\n")
+        sys.exit(1)
 
 #----------------------------------------------------------
 # get logger