diff --git a/src/daemon/caps.c b/src/daemon/caps.c
index fd135c0d2..e68e0a69b 100644
--- a/src/daemon/caps.c
+++ b/src/daemon/caps.c
@@ -36,64 +36,11 @@
 
 #include "caps.h"
 
-/* Glibc <= 2.2 has broken unistd.h */
-#if defined(__linux__) && (__GLIBC__ <= 2 && __GLIBC_MINOR__ <= 2)
-int setresgid(gid_t r, gid_t e, gid_t s);
-int setresuid(uid_t r, uid_t e, uid_t s);
-#endif
-
-/* Drop root rights when called SUID root */
+/* Disable privilege dropping on Android. */
 void pa_drop_root(void) {
-
-#ifdef HAVE_GETUID
-    uid_t uid;
-    gid_t gid;
-
-    pa_log_debug("Cleaning up privileges.");
-    uid = getuid();
-    gid = getgid();
-
-#if defined(HAVE_SETRESUID)
-    pa_assert_se(setresuid(uid, uid, uid) >= 0);
-    pa_assert_se(setresgid(gid, gid, gid) >= 0);
-#elif defined(HAVE_SETREUID)
-    pa_assert_se(setreuid(uid, uid) >= 0);
-    pa_assert_se(setregid(gid, gid) >= 0);
-#else
-    pa_assert_se(setuid(uid) >= 0);
-    pa_assert_se(seteuid(uid) >= 0);
-    pa_assert_se(setgid(gid) >= 0);
-    pa_assert_se(setegid(gid) >= 0);
-#endif
-
-    pa_assert_se(getuid() == uid);
-    pa_assert_se(geteuid() == uid);
-    pa_assert_se(getgid() == gid);
-    pa_assert_se(getegid() == gid);
-
-    if (uid != 0)
-        pa_drop_caps();
-#endif
+    return;
 }
 
 void pa_drop_caps(void) {
-#ifdef HAVE_SYS_CAPABILITY_H
-#if defined(__linux__)
-    cap_t caps;
-    pa_assert_se(caps = cap_init());
-    pa_assert_se(cap_clear(caps) == 0);
-    pa_assert_se(cap_set_proc(caps) == 0);
-    pa_assert_se(cap_free(caps) == 0);
-#elif defined(__FreeBSD__) || defined(__FreeBSD_kernel__)
-    /* FreeBSD doesn't have this functionality, even though sys/capability.h is
-     * available. See https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=72580 */
-    pa_log_warn("FreeBSD cannot drop extra capabilities, implementation needed.");
-#else
-#error "Don't know how to do capabilities on your system.  Please send a patch."
-#endif /* __linux__ */
-#else /* HAVE_SYS_CAPABILITY_H */
-    pa_log_warn("Normally all extra capabilities would be dropped now, but "
-                "that's impossible because PulseAudio was built without "
-                "capabilities support.");
-#endif
+    return;
 }
diff --git a/src/daemon/main.c b/src/daemon/main.c
index 924a4d4aa..80130e056 100644
--- a/src/daemon/main.c
+++ b/src/daemon/main.c
@@ -163,206 +163,11 @@ static void signal_callback(pa_mainloop_api* m, pa_signal_event *e, int sig, voi
 }
 
 
-#if defined(OS_IS_WIN32)
-
+// Disable privilege dropping on Android.
 static int change_user(void) {
-    pa_log_info("Overriding system runtime/config base dir to '%s'.", pa_win32_get_system_appdata());
-
-    /* On other platforms, these paths are compiled into PulseAudio. This isn't
-     * suitable on Windows. Firstly, Windows doesn't follow the FHS or use Unix
-     * paths and the build system can't handle Windows-style paths properly.
-     * Secondly, the idiomatic location for a service's state and shared data is
-     * ProgramData, and the location of special folders is dynamic on Windows.
-     * Also, this method of handling paths is consistent with how they are
-     * handled on Windows in other parts of PA. Note that this is only needed
-     * in system-wide mode since paths in user instances are already handled
-     * properly.
-     */
-
-    char *run_path = pa_sprintf_malloc("%s" PA_PATH_SEP "run", pa_win32_get_system_appdata());
-    char *lib_path = pa_sprintf_malloc("%s" PA_PATH_SEP "lib", pa_win32_get_system_appdata());
-
-    /* https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/secauthz/ace-strings */
-    /* https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/secauthz/modifying-the-acls-of-an-object-in-c-- */
-    /* https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/sddl/nf-sddl-convertstringsecuritydescriptortosecuritydescriptora */
-    {
-        mkdir(run_path);
-        PSECURITY_DESCRIPTOR sd;
-        if (ConvertStringSecurityDescriptorToSecurityDescriptorA(
-            "D:PAI"                   /* DACL, disable inheritance from parent, enable propagation to children */
-            "(A;OICI;FA;;;SY)"        /* give system full access */
-            "(A;OICI;FA;;;CO)"        /* give owner full access */
-            "(A;OICI;FA;;;BA)"        /* give administrators full access */
-            "(A;OICI;0x1200a9;;;WD)", /* give everyone read/write/execute access */
-            SDDL_REVISION_1, &sd, NULL
-        )) {
-            PACL acl;
-            BOOL acl_present, acl_default;
-            if (GetSecurityDescriptorDacl(sd, &acl_present, &acl, &acl_default)) {
-                if (SetNamedSecurityInfo(run_path, SE_FILE_OBJECT, DACL_SECURITY_INFORMATION | PROTECTED_DACL_SECURITY_INFORMATION, NULL, NULL, acl, NULL) != ERROR_SUCCESS) {
-                    pa_log_warn("Failed to set DACL for runtime dir: failed to apply DACL: error %lu.", GetLastError());
-                }
-                LocalFree(acl);
-            } else {
-                pa_log_warn("Failed to set DACL for runtime dir: failed to get security descriptor DACL: error %lu.", GetLastError());
-            }
-        } else {
-            pa_log_warn("Failed to set DACL for runtime dir: failed to parse security descriptor: error %lu.", GetLastError());
-        }
-    }
-    {
-        mkdir(lib_path);
-        PSECURITY_DESCRIPTOR sd;
-        if (ConvertStringSecurityDescriptorToSecurityDescriptorA(
-            "D:PAI"             /* DACL, disable inheritance from parent, enable propagation to children */
-            "(A;OICI;FA;;;SY)"  /* give system full access */
-            "(A;OICI;FA;;;CO)"  /* give owner full access */
-            "(A;OICI;FA;;;BA)", /* give administrators full access */
-            SDDL_REVISION_1, &sd, NULL
-        )) {
-            PACL acl;
-            BOOL acl_present, acl_default;
-            if (GetSecurityDescriptorDacl(sd, &acl_present, &acl, &acl_default)) {
-                if (SetNamedSecurityInfo(lib_path, SE_FILE_OBJECT, DACL_SECURITY_INFORMATION | PROTECTED_DACL_SECURITY_INFORMATION, NULL, NULL, acl, NULL) != ERROR_SUCCESS) {
-                    pa_log_warn("Failed to set DACL for lib dir: failed to apply DACL: error %lu.", GetLastError());
-                }
-                LocalFree(acl);
-            } else {
-                pa_log_warn("Failed to set DACL for lib dir: failed to get security descriptor DACL: error %lu.", GetLastError());
-            }
-        } else {
-            pa_log_warn("Failed to set DACL for lib dir: failed to parse security descriptor: error %lu.", GetLastError());
-        }
-    }
-
-    pa_set_env("HOME", run_path);
-    if (!getenv("PULSE_RUNTIME_PATH"))
-        pa_set_env("PULSE_RUNTIME_PATH", run_path);
-    if (!getenv("PULSE_CONFIG_PATH"))
-        pa_set_env("PULSE_CONFIG_PATH", lib_path);
-    if (!getenv("PULSE_STATE_PATH"))
-        pa_set_env("PULSE_STATE_PATH", lib_path);
-
-    pa_xfree(run_path);
-    pa_xfree(lib_path);
-
-    pa_log_info("Not changing user for system instance on Windows.");
     return 0;
 }
 
-#elif defined(HAVE_PWD_H) && defined(HAVE_GRP_H)
-
-static int change_user(void) {
-    struct passwd *pw;
-    struct group * gr;
-    int r;
-
-    /* This function is called only in system-wide mode. It creates a
-     * runtime dir in /var/run/ with proper UID/GID and drops privs
-     * afterwards. */
-
-    if (!(pw = getpwnam(PA_SYSTEM_USER))) {
-        pa_log(_("Failed to find user '%s'."), PA_SYSTEM_USER);
-        return -1;
-    }
-
-    if (!(gr = getgrnam(PA_SYSTEM_GROUP))) {
-        pa_log(_("Failed to find group '%s'."), PA_SYSTEM_GROUP);
-        return -1;
-    }
-
-    pa_log_info("Found user '%s' (UID %lu) and group '%s' (GID %lu).",
-                PA_SYSTEM_USER, (unsigned long) pw->pw_uid,
-                PA_SYSTEM_GROUP, (unsigned long) gr->gr_gid);
-
-    if (pw->pw_gid != gr->gr_gid) {
-        pa_log(_("GID of user '%s' and of group '%s' don't match."), PA_SYSTEM_USER, PA_SYSTEM_GROUP);
-        return -1;
-    }
-
-    if (!pa_streq(pw->pw_dir, PA_SYSTEM_RUNTIME_PATH))
-        pa_log_warn(_("Home directory of user '%s' is not '%s', ignoring."), PA_SYSTEM_USER, PA_SYSTEM_RUNTIME_PATH);
-
-    if (pa_make_secure_dir(PA_SYSTEM_RUNTIME_PATH, 0755, pw->pw_uid, gr->gr_gid, true) < 0) {
-        pa_log(_("Failed to create '%s': %s"), PA_SYSTEM_RUNTIME_PATH, pa_cstrerror(errno));
-        return -1;
-    }
-
-    if (pa_make_secure_dir(PA_SYSTEM_STATE_PATH, 0700, pw->pw_uid, gr->gr_gid, true) < 0) {
-        pa_log(_("Failed to create '%s': %s"), PA_SYSTEM_STATE_PATH, pa_cstrerror(errno));
-        return -1;
-    }
-
-    /* We don't create the config dir here, because we don't need to write to it */
-
-    if (initgroups(PA_SYSTEM_USER, gr->gr_gid) != 0) {
-        pa_log(_("Failed to change group list: %s"), pa_cstrerror(errno));
-        return -1;
-    }
-
-#if defined(HAVE_SETRESGID)
-    r = setresgid(gr->gr_gid, gr->gr_gid, gr->gr_gid);
-#elif defined(HAVE_SETEGID)
-    if ((r = setgid(gr->gr_gid)) >= 0)
-        r = setegid(gr->gr_gid);
-#elif defined(HAVE_SETREGID)
-    r = setregid(gr->gr_gid, gr->gr_gid);
-#else
-#error "No API to drop privileges"
-#endif
-
-    if (r < 0) {
-        pa_log(_("Failed to change GID: %s"), pa_cstrerror(errno));
-        return -1;
-    }
-
-#if defined(HAVE_SETRESUID)
-    r = setresuid(pw->pw_uid, pw->pw_uid, pw->pw_uid);
-#elif defined(HAVE_SETEUID)
-    if ((r = setuid(pw->pw_uid)) >= 0)
-        r = seteuid(pw->pw_uid);
-#elif defined(HAVE_SETREUID)
-    r = setreuid(pw->pw_uid, pw->pw_uid);
-#else
-#error "No API to drop privileges"
-#endif
-
-    if (r < 0) {
-        pa_log(_("Failed to change UID: %s"), pa_cstrerror(errno));
-        return -1;
-    }
-
-    pa_drop_caps();
-
-    pa_set_env("USER", PA_SYSTEM_USER);
-    pa_set_env("USERNAME", PA_SYSTEM_USER);
-    pa_set_env("LOGNAME", PA_SYSTEM_USER);
-    pa_set_env("HOME", PA_SYSTEM_RUNTIME_PATH);
-
-    /* Relevant for pa_runtime_path() */
-    if (!getenv("PULSE_RUNTIME_PATH"))
-        pa_set_env("PULSE_RUNTIME_PATH", PA_SYSTEM_RUNTIME_PATH);
-
-    if (!getenv("PULSE_CONFIG_PATH"))
-        pa_set_env("PULSE_CONFIG_PATH", PA_SYSTEM_CONFIG_PATH);
-
-    if (!getenv("PULSE_STATE_PATH"))
-        pa_set_env("PULSE_STATE_PATH", PA_SYSTEM_STATE_PATH);
-
-    pa_log_info("Successfully changed user to \"" PA_SYSTEM_USER "\".");
-
-    return 0;
-}
-
-#else /* HAVE_PWD_H && HAVE_GRP_H */
-
-static int change_user(void) {
-    pa_log(_("System wide mode unsupported on this platform."));
-    return -1;
-}
-
-#endif /* HAVE_PWD_H && HAVE_GRP_H */
-
 #ifdef HAVE_SYS_RESOURCE_H
 
 static int set_one_rlimit(const pa_rlimit *r, int resource, const char *name) {