diff --git a/mesonbuild/minstall.py b/mesonbuild/minstall.py
index 0eaa54f96..47bb88b68 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/minstall.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/minstall.py
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ class Installer:
                     self.log('Preserved {} unchanged files, see {} for the full list'
                              .format(self.preserved_file_count, os.path.normpath(self.lf.name)))
         except PermissionError:
-            if shutil.which('pkexec') is not None and 'PKEXEC_UID' not in os.environ:
+            if shutil.which('pkexec') is not None and 'PKEXEC_UID' not in os.environ and d.destdir is None:
                 print('Installation failed due to insufficient permissions.')
                 print('Attempting to use polkit to gain elevated privileges...')
                 os.execlp('pkexec', 'pkexec', sys.executable, main_file, *sys.argv[1:],