diff --git a/cmd/elastic.sh b/cmd/elastic.sh
index 701c19c9..c9eb2ba0 100644
--- a/cmd/elastic.sh
+++ b/cmd/elastic.sh
@@ -3,10 +3,26 @@ set -e;
 
 function elastic_schema_drop(){ compose_run 'schema' node scripts/drop_index "$@" || true; }
 function elastic_schema_create(){ compose_run 'schema' ./bin/create_index; }
+
+# perform pre-start checks and start the elasticsearch container
 function elastic_start(){
   mkdir -p $DATA_DIR/elasticsearch
   # attemp to set proper permissions if running as root
   chown $DOCKER_USER $DATA_DIR/elasticsearch 2>/dev/null || true
+
+  # record the owner of the Elasticsearch directory
+  elasticsearch_owner_uid=$($CMD_STAT --format '%u' $DATA_DIR/elasticsearch)
+
+  # grab just the first part of the $DOCKER_USER variable which may have format uid:gid (or just uid)
+  desired_owner_uid=(${DOCKER_USER//:/ })
+
+  # check permissions, and if $DOCKER_USER cannot read the data dir, quit with error
+  if [[ "$desired_owner_uid" != "$elasticsearch_owner_uid" ]]; then
+    cmd="sudo chown $DOCKER_USER $DATA_DIR/elasticsearch"
+    echo "User $DOCKER_USER cannot access elasticsearch directory at $DATA_DIR"
+    echo "attempting to fix permissins by running '$cmd'. You may be asked for your password."
+    $cmd
+  fi
   compose_exec up -d elasticsearch
 }
 
diff --git a/pelias b/pelias
index 0f383f55..e26cb6c8 100755
--- a/pelias
+++ b/pelias
@@ -5,9 +5,11 @@ set -e
 # compatible with the linux tools. Force OSX users to install the GNU
 # compatible versions (prefixed with 'g', such as 'greadlink', 'gsed' etc.).
 export CMD_READLINK='readlink'
+export CMD_STAT='stat'
 if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
   if [ -x "$(command -v greadlink)" ]; then
     CMD_READLINK='greadlink';
+    CMD_STAT='gstat';
   else
     2>&1 echo 'OSX: you must install the gnu standard tooling using:'
     2>&1 echo 'brew install coreutils'