diff --git a/nix-capabilities.cc b/nix-capabilities.cc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4e51edc9d752
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix-capabilities.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+/*
+- Complile with
+```
+> g++ ./nix-capabilities.cc -o nix-capabilites
+```
+- Set CAP_CHOWN and CAP_FOWNER capabilites for `nix-capabilities`
+```
+> sudo setcap 'cap_chown,cap_fowner+eip' nix-capabilites
+```
+- Test with /nix folder
+```
+> ls -la /nix/
+drwxr-xr-x   4 dimap dimap   4096 Jun 30 22:40 var
+> ./nix-capabilities chown /nix/var 0 0
+> ls -la /nix
+...
+drwxr-xr-x   4 root  root    4096 Jun 30 22:40 var
+```
+> ./nix-capabilities chmod /nix/var 1222
+> ls -la /nix/
+...
+d-w--w--wT   4 root  root    4096 Jun 30 22:40 var
+*/
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include <string>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+
+void usage() {
+    std::cerr << "USAGE:"
+              << " <chown|chmod>"
+              << " <path to file/directory under /nix to change ownership>"
+              << " <uid|perm>"
+              << " [gid]" << std::endl;
+}
+
+uint32_t getPerm(const std::string &perm) {
+    // 0x3ff will drop suid/sgid stuff remaining
+    // only `user-group-others` + sticky-bit permissions
+    return std::stoul(perm, (std::size_t *)0, 8) & 0x3ff;
+}
+
+std::string getCanonicalizedPath(const char *path) {
+    char* res = realpath(path, NULL);
+    if (res == NULL) {
+        return "";
+    }
+    std::string pathToFile{res};
+    free(res);
+    return pathToFile;
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
+    if (argc < 4) {
+        usage();
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    std::string mode{argv[1]};
+    if (mode != "chmod" && mode != "chown") {
+        usage();
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    std::string pathToFile = getCanonicalizedPath(argv[2]);
+    if (pathToFile.length() == 0) {
+        std::cerr << "Path '" << argv[2] << "' doesn't exist" << std::endl;
+        return -1;
+    };
+    if (pathToFile.rfind("/nix/", 0) != 0) {
+        std::cerr << "Path '" << argv[2] << "' should point to /nix/*";
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    std::string uidOrPerm{argv[3]};
+    if (mode == "chown") {
+        if (argc != 5) {
+            usage();
+            return -1;
+        }
+        std::string gid{argv[4]};
+        uint32_t u_uid = std::stoul(uidOrPerm);
+        uint32_t u_gid = std::stoul(gid);
+        if (u_uid == 0 || u_gid == 0) {
+            std::cerr << "You cannot change owner or group to root user" << std::endl;
+            return -1;
+        }
+        return chown(pathToFile.c_str(), u_uid, u_gid);
+    } else if (mode == "chmod") {
+        if (argc != 4) {
+            usage();
+            return -1;
+        }
+        return chmod(pathToFile.c_str(), getPerm(uidOrPerm));
+    } else {
+        usage();
+        return -1;
+    }
+    return 0;
+}
diff --git a/src/libstore/local-store.cc b/src/libstore/local-store.cc
index 84ddd964b469..0a779129e9e4 100644
--- a/src/libstore/local-store.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/local-store.cc
@@ -36,6 +36,50 @@
 
 #include <sqlite3.h>
 
+#include <sys/wait.h>
+
+pid_t exec(const char *__file, char *const __argv[]) {
+    pid_t pid = fork();
+    if (pid == 0) {
+        exit(execvp(__file, __argv));
+    } else if (pid < 0) {
+        std::cerr << "Cannot spawn child process" << std::endl;
+        return -1;
+    }
+    pid_t status;
+    wait(&status);
+    return status;
+}
+
+int chownx(const char *__file, __uid_t __owner, __gid_t __group) {
+    char *envVar = std::getenv("NIX_CAPABILITIES_BIN");
+    std::string capabilitesBinary =
+        envVar == nullptr ? "nix-capabilities" : std::string{envVar};
+    std::vector<const char *> argv{capabilitesBinary.c_str(),
+                                   "chown",
+                                   __file,
+                                   std::to_string(__owner).c_str(),
+                                   std::to_string(__group).c_str(),
+                                   nullptr};
+    return exec(argv[0], const_cast<char *const *>(argv.data()));
+}
+
+int chmodx(const char *__file, __mode_t __mode) {
+    if (chmod(__file, __mode) == 0) {
+        return 0;
+    }
+    std::ostringstream mode;
+    mode << std::oct << (__mode & 0xfff);
+    char *envVar = std::getenv("NIX_CAPABILITIES_BIN");
+    std::string capabilitesBinary =
+        envVar == nullptr ? "nix-capabilities" : std::string{envVar};
+    std::vector<const char *> argv{capabilitesBinary.c_str(), "chmod", __file,
+                                   mode.str().c_str(), nullptr};
+    return exec(argv[0], const_cast<char *const *>(argv.data()));
+}
+
+#define chmod(file, mode) chmodx(file, mode)
+#define chown(file, user, group) chownx(file, user, group)
 
 namespace nix {