diff --git a/man/repart.d.xml b/man/repart.d.xml
index 846e1984e5..b786202905 100644
--- a/man/repart.d.xml
+++ b/man/repart.d.xml
@@ -425,6 +425,12 @@
         target filesystem (e.g symlinks, fifos, sockets and devices on vfat). When an unsupported file type
         is encountered, repart will skip copying this file and write a log message about it.</para>
 
+        <para>Note that <command>systemd-repart</command> does not change the UIDs/GIDs of any copied files
+        and directories. When running <command>systemd-repart</command> as an unprivileged user to build an
+        image of files and directories owned by the same user, you can run <command>systemd-repart</command>
+        in a user namespace with the current user mapped to the root user to make sure the files and
+        directories in the image are owned by the root user.</para>
+
         <para>This option cannot be combined with <varname>CopyBlocks=</varname>.</para>
 
         <para>When
diff --git a/src/partition/repart.c b/src/partition/repart.c
index 7c4a1ee01c..c95b1d601d 100644
--- a/src/partition/repart.c
+++ b/src/partition/repart.c
@@ -3744,13 +3744,7 @@ static int context_copy_blocks(Context *context) {
         return 0;
 }
 
-static int do_copy_files(
-                Partition *p,
-                const char *root,
-                uid_t override_uid,
-                gid_t override_gid,
-                const Set *denylist) {
-
+static int do_copy_files(Partition *p, const char *root, const Set *denylist) {
         int r;
 
         assert(p);
@@ -3799,14 +3793,14 @@ static int do_copy_files(
                                 r = copy_tree_at(
                                                 sfd, ".",
                                                 pfd, fn,
-                                                override_uid, override_gid,
+                                                UID_INVALID, GID_INVALID,
                                                 COPY_REFLINK|COPY_HOLES|COPY_MERGE|COPY_REPLACE|COPY_SIGINT|COPY_HARDLINKS|COPY_ALL_XATTRS|COPY_GRACEFUL_WARN,
                                                 denylist);
                         } else
                                 r = copy_tree_at(
                                                 sfd, ".",
                                                 tfd, ".",
-                                                override_uid, override_gid,
+                                                UID_INVALID, GID_INVALID,
                                                 COPY_REFLINK|COPY_HOLES|COPY_MERGE|COPY_REPLACE|COPY_SIGINT|COPY_HARDLINKS|COPY_ALL_XATTRS|COPY_GRACEFUL_WARN,
                                                 denylist);
                         if (r < 0)
@@ -3844,9 +3838,6 @@ static int do_copy_files(
                         if (r < 0)
                                 return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to copy '%s' to '%s%s': %m", *source, strempty(arg_root), *target);
 
-                        if (fchown(tfd, override_uid, override_gid) < 0)
-                                return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to change ownership of %s", *target);
-
                         (void) copy_xattr(sfd, tfd, COPY_ALL_XATTRS);
                         (void) copy_access(sfd, tfd);
                         (void) copy_times(sfd, tfd, 0);
@@ -3856,7 +3847,7 @@ static int do_copy_files(
         return 0;
 }
 
-static int do_make_directories(Partition *p, uid_t override_uid, gid_t override_gid, const char *root) {
+static int do_make_directories(Partition *p, const char *root) {
         int r;
 
         assert(p);
@@ -3864,7 +3855,7 @@ static int do_make_directories(Partition *p, uid_t override_uid, gid_t override_
 
         STRV_FOREACH(d, p->make_directories) {
 
-                r = mkdir_p_root(root, *d, override_uid, override_gid, 0755);
+                r = mkdir_p_root(root, *d, UID_INVALID, GID_INVALID, 0755);
                 if (r < 0)
                         return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to create directory '%s' in file system: %m", *d);
         }
@@ -3891,11 +3882,11 @@ static int partition_populate_directory(Partition *p, const Set *denylist, char
         if (fchmod(rfd, 0755) < 0)
                 return log_error_errno(errno, "Failed to change mode of temporary directory: %m");
 
-        r = do_copy_files(p, root, getuid(), getgid(), denylist);
+        r = do_copy_files(p, root, denylist);
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
 
-        r = do_make_directories(p, getuid(), getgid(), root);
+        r = do_make_directories(p, root);
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
 
@@ -3931,10 +3922,10 @@ static int partition_populate_filesystem(Partition *p, const char *node, const S
                 if (mount_nofollow_verbose(LOG_ERR, node, fs, p->format, MS_NOATIME|MS_NODEV|MS_NOEXEC|MS_NOSUID, NULL) < 0)
                         _exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 
-                if (do_copy_files(p, fs, 0, 0, denylist) < 0)
+                if (do_copy_files(p, fs, denylist) < 0)
                         _exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 
-                if (do_make_directories(p, 0, 0, fs) < 0)
+                if (do_make_directories(p, fs) < 0)
                         _exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 
                 r = syncfs_path(AT_FDCWD, fs);
diff --git a/src/shared/mkfs-util.c b/src/shared/mkfs-util.c
index 11ae92290d..d64ef0d47a 100644
--- a/src/shared/mkfs-util.c
+++ b/src/shared/mkfs-util.c
@@ -98,41 +98,11 @@ static int mangle_fat_label(const char *s, char **ret) {
         return 0;
 }
 
-static int setup_userns(uid_t uid, gid_t gid) {
-        int r;
-
-       /* mkfs programs tend to keep ownership intact when bootstrapping themselves from a root directory.
-        * However, we'd like for the files to be owned by root instead, so we fork off a user namespace and
-        * inside of it, map the uid/gid of the root directory to root in the user namespace. mkfs programs
-        * will pick up on this and the files will be owned by root in the generated filesystem. */
-
-        r = write_string_filef("/proc/self/uid_map", WRITE_STRING_FILE_DISABLE_BUFFER,
-                                UID_FMT " " UID_FMT " " UID_FMT, 0u, uid, 1u);
-        if (r < 0)
-                return log_error_errno(r,
-                                       "Failed to write mapping for "UID_FMT" to /proc/self/uid_map: %m",
-                                       uid);
-
-        r = write_string_file("/proc/self/setgroups", "deny", WRITE_STRING_FILE_DISABLE_BUFFER);
-        if (r < 0)
-                return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to write 'deny' to /proc/self/setgroups: %m");
-
-        r = write_string_filef("/proc/self/gid_map", WRITE_STRING_FILE_DISABLE_BUFFER,
-                                GID_FMT " " GID_FMT " " GID_FMT, 0u, gid, 1u);
-        if (r < 0)
-                return log_error_errno(r,
-                                       "Failed to write mapping for "GID_FMT" to /proc/self/gid_map: %m",
-                                       gid);
-
-        return 0;
-}
-
 static int do_mcopy(const char *node, const char *root) {
         _cleanup_free_ char *mcopy = NULL;
         _cleanup_strv_free_ char **argv = NULL;
         _cleanup_close_ int rfd = -EBADF;
         _cleanup_free_ DirectoryEntries *de = NULL;
-        struct stat st;
         int r;
 
         assert(node);
@@ -182,17 +152,10 @@ static int do_mcopy(const char *node, const char *root) {
         if (strv_extend(&argv, "::") < 0)
                 return log_oom();
 
-        if (fstat(rfd, &st) < 0)
-                return log_error_errno(errno, "Failed to stat '%s': %m", root);
-
-        r = safe_fork("(mcopy)", FORK_RESET_SIGNALS|FORK_RLIMIT_NOFILE_SAFE|FORK_DEATHSIG|FORK_LOG|FORK_WAIT|FORK_STDOUT_TO_STDERR|FORK_NEW_USERNS|FORK_CLOSE_ALL_FDS, NULL);
+        r = safe_fork("(mcopy)", FORK_RESET_SIGNALS|FORK_RLIMIT_NOFILE_SAFE|FORK_DEATHSIG|FORK_LOG|FORK_WAIT|FORK_STDOUT_TO_STDERR|FORK_CLOSE_ALL_FDS, NULL);
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
         if (r == 0) {
-                r = setup_userns(st.st_uid, st.st_gid);
-                if (r < 0)
-                        _exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
-
                 /* Avoid failures caused by mismatch in expectations between mkfs.vfat and mcopy by disabling
                  * the stricter mcopy checks using MTOOLS_SKIP_CHECK. */
                 execve(mcopy, argv, STRV_MAKE("MTOOLS_SKIP_CHECK=1"));
@@ -308,7 +271,6 @@ int make_filesystem(
         _cleanup_strv_free_ char **argv = NULL;
         _cleanup_(unlink_and_freep) char *protofile = NULL;
         char vol_id[CONST_MAX(SD_ID128_UUID_STRING_MAX, 8U + 1U)] = {};
-        struct stat st;
         int r;
 
         assert(node);
@@ -527,21 +489,12 @@ int make_filesystem(
         if (extra_mkfs_args && strv_extend_strv(&argv, extra_mkfs_args, false) < 0)
                 return log_oom();
 
-        if (root && stat(root, &st) < 0)
-                return log_error_errno(errno, "Failed to stat %s: %m", root);
-
-        r = safe_fork("(mkfs)", FORK_RESET_SIGNALS|FORK_RLIMIT_NOFILE_SAFE|FORK_DEATHSIG|FORK_LOG|FORK_WAIT|FORK_STDOUT_TO_STDERR|FORK_CLOSE_ALL_FDS|(root ? FORK_NEW_USERNS : 0), NULL);
+        r = safe_fork("(mkfs)", FORK_RESET_SIGNALS|FORK_RLIMIT_NOFILE_SAFE|FORK_DEATHSIG|FORK_LOG|FORK_WAIT|FORK_STDOUT_TO_STDERR|FORK_CLOSE_ALL_FDS, NULL);
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
         if (r == 0) {
                 /* Child */
 
-                if (root) {
-                        r = setup_userns(st.st_uid, st.st_gid);
-                        if (r < 0)
-                                _exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
-                }
-
                 execvp(mkfs, argv);
 
                 log_error_errno(errno, "Failed to execute %s: %m", mkfs);
diff --git a/test/units/testsuite-58.sh b/test/units/testsuite-58.sh
index cf1007f69a..e83df97067 100755
--- a/test/units/testsuite-58.sh
+++ b/test/units/testsuite-58.sh
@@ -119,21 +119,21 @@ last-lba: 2097118"
 
     # 2. Testing with root, root2, home, and swap
 
-    cat >"$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root
 EOF
 
     ln -s root.conf "$defs/root2.conf"
 
-    cat >"$defs/home.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/home.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=home
 Label=home-first
 Label=home-always-too-long-xxxxxxxxxxxxxx-%v
 EOF
 
-    cat >"$defs/swap.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/swap.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=swap
 SizeMaxBytes=64M
@@ -194,13 +194,13 @@ $imgs/zzz4 : start=     1777624, size=      131072, type=0657FD6D-A4AB-43C4-84E5
 
     # 3. Testing with root, root2, home, swap, and another partition
 
-    cat >"$defs/swap.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/swap.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=swap
 SizeMaxBytes=64M
 EOF
 
-    cat >"$defs/extra.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/extra.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=linux-generic
 Label=custom_label
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ $imgs/zzz5 : start=     1908696, size=     2285568, type=0FC63DAF-8483-4772-8E79
 
     dd if=/dev/urandom of="$imgs/block-copy" bs=4096 count=10240
 
-    cat >"$defs/extra2.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/extra2.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=linux-generic
 Label=block-copy
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ $imgs/zzz6 : start=     4194264, size=     2097152, type=0FC63DAF-8483-4772-8E79
 
     # 6. Testing Format=/Encrypt=/CopyFiles=
 
-    cat >"$defs/extra3.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/extra3.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=linux-generic
 Label=luks-format-copy
@@ -350,21 +350,21 @@ test_dropin() {
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN
 
-    cat >"$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=swap
 SizeMaxBytes=64M
 UUID=837c3d67-21b3-478e-be82-7e7f83bf96d3
 EOF
 
-    mkdir -p "$defs/root.conf.d"
-    cat >"$defs/root.conf.d/override1.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser mkdir -p "$defs/root.conf.d"
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf.d/override1.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Label=label1
 SizeMaxBytes=32M
 EOF
 
-    cat >"$defs/root.conf.d/override2.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf.d/override2.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Label=label2
 EOF
@@ -408,9 +408,9 @@ test_multiple_definitions() {
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN
 
-    mkdir -p "$defs/1"
+    runas testuser mkdir -p "$defs/1"
 
-    cat >"$defs/1/root1.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/1/root1.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=swap
 SizeMaxBytes=32M
@@ -418,9 +418,9 @@ UUID=7b93d1f2-595d-4ce3-b0b9-837fbd9e63b0
 Label=label1
 EOF
 
-    mkdir -p "$defs/2"
+    runas testuser mkdir -p "$defs/2"
 
-    cat >"$defs/2/root2.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/2/root2.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=swap
 SizeMaxBytes=32M
@@ -481,14 +481,14 @@ test_copy_blocks() {
 
     # First, create a disk image and verify its in order
 
-    cat >"$defs/esp.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/esp.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=esp
 SizeMinBytes=10M
 Format=vfat
 EOF
 
-    cat >"$defs/usr.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/usr.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=usr-${architecture}
 SizeMinBytes=10M
@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@ Format=ext4
 ReadOnly=yes
 EOF
 
-    cat >"$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}
 SizeMinBytes=10M
@@ -523,20 +523,20 @@ EOF
 
     # Then, create another image with CopyBlocks=auto
 
-    cat >"$defs/esp.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/esp.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=esp
 CopyBlocks=auto
 EOF
 
-    cat >"$defs/usr.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/usr.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=usr-${architecture}
 ReadOnly=yes
 CopyBlocks=auto
 EOF
 
-    cat >"$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}
 CopyBlocks=auto
@@ -563,7 +563,7 @@ test_unaligned_partition() {
 
     # Operate on an image with unaligned partition.
 
-    cat >"$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}
 EOF
@@ -598,7 +598,7 @@ test_issue_21817() {
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN
 
-    cat >"$defs/test.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/test.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root
 EOF
@@ -634,14 +634,14 @@ test_issue_24553() {
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN
 
-    cat >"$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root
 SizeMinBytes=10G
 SizeMaxBytes=120G
 EOF
 
-    cat >"$imgs/partscript" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$imgs/partscript" <<EOF
 label: gpt
 label-id: C9FFE979-A415-C449-B729-78C7AA664B10
 unit: sectors
@@ -679,7 +679,7 @@ EOF
     assert_in "$imgs/zzz2 : start=      524328, size=    24641456, type=${root_guid}, uuid=${root_uuid}, name=\"root-${architecture}\"" "$output"
 
     # 3. Multiple partitions with Priority= (small disk)
-    cat >"$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root
 SizeMinBytes=10G
@@ -687,7 +687,7 @@ SizeMaxBytes=120G
 Priority=100
 EOF
 
-    cat >"$defs/usr.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/usr.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=usr
 SizeMinBytes=10M
@@ -734,7 +734,7 @@ test_zero_uuid() {
 
     # Test image with zero UUID.
 
-    cat >"$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}
 UUID=null
@@ -760,7 +760,7 @@ test_verity() {
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN
 
-    cat >"$defs/verity-data.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/verity-data.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}
 CopyFiles=${defs}
@@ -768,14 +768,14 @@ Verity=data
 VerityMatchKey=root
 EOF
 
-    cat >"$defs/verity-hash.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/verity-hash.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}-verity
 Verity=hash
 VerityMatchKey=root
 EOF
 
-    cat >"$defs/verity-sig.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/verity-sig.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}-verity-sig
 Verity=signature
@@ -783,7 +783,7 @@ VerityMatchKey=root
 EOF
 
     # Unfortunately OpenSSL insists on reading some config file, hence provide one with mostly placeholder contents
-    cat >> "$defs/verity.openssl.cnf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee > "$defs/verity.openssl.cnf" <<EOF
 [ req ]
 prompt = no
 distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
@@ -843,17 +843,17 @@ test_issue_24786() {
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs' '$root'" RETURN
 
-    touch "$root/abc"
-    mkdir "$root/usr"
-    touch "$root/usr/def"
+    runas testuser touch "$root/abc"
+    runas testuser mkdir "$root/usr"
+    runas testuser touch "$root/usr/def"
 
-    cat >"$defs/00-root.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/00-root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}
 CopyFiles=/
 EOF
 
-    cat >"$defs/10-usr.conf" <<EOF
+    runas testuser tee "$defs/10-usr.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=usr-${architecture}
 CopyFiles=/usr:/
@@ -906,7 +906,7 @@ test_minimize() {
             continue
         fi
 
-        cat >"$defs/root-$format.conf" <<EOF
+        tee "$defs/root-$format.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}
 Format=${format}
@@ -916,7 +916,7 @@ EOF
     done
 
     if ! command -v mksquashfs >/dev/null; then
-        cat >"$defs/root-squashfs.conf" <<EOF
+        tee "$defs/root-squashfs.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}
 Format=squashfs
@@ -955,19 +955,19 @@ test_sector() {
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN
 
-    cat > "$defs/a.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/a.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root
 SizeMaxBytes=15M
 SizeMinBytes=15M
 EOF
-    cat > "$defs/b.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/b.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=linux-generic
 Weight=250
 EOF
 
-    cat > "$defs/c.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/c.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=linux-generic
 Weight=750