diff --git a/lib/cdist/config.py b/lib/cdist/config.py
index 51615c28..43d4bf51 100644
--- a/lib/cdist/config.py
+++ b/lib/cdist/config.py
@@ -297,6 +297,9 @@ def config(args):
 
     time_start = datetime.datetime.now()
 
+    os.environ['__remote_exec'] = ["ssh", "-o", "User=root" ]
+    os.environ['__remote_copy'] = ["scp", "-o", "User=root" ]
+
     for host in args.host:
         c = Config(host, initial_manifest=args.manifest, home=args.cdist_home, debug=args.debug)
         if args.parallel: