diff --git a/extensions/notebook/package.json b/extensions/notebook/package.json
index d6a103bbc9..9f56dd9731 100644
--- a/extensions/notebook/package.json
+++ b/extensions/notebook/package.json
@@ -54,6 +54,11 @@
           "default": true,
           "description": "%notebook.overrideEditorTheming.description%"
         },
+        "notebook.allowRoot": {
+          "type": "boolean",
+          "default": false,
+          "description": "%notebook.allowRoot.description%"
+        },
         "notebook.maxTableRows": {
           "type": "number",
           "default": 5000,
diff --git a/extensions/notebook/package.nls.json b/extensions/notebook/package.nls.json
index d0f2feb595..8329b47c32 100644
--- a/extensions/notebook/package.nls.json
+++ b/extensions/notebook/package.nls.json
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 	"notebook.collapseBookItems.description": "Collapse Book items at root level in the Notebooks Viewlet",
 	"notebook.remoteBookDownloadTimeout.description": "Download timeout in milliseconds for GitHub books",
 	"notebook.pinnedNotebooks.description": "Notebooks that are pinned by the user for the current workspace",
+	"notebook.allowRoot.description": "Allow Jupyter server to run as root user",
 	"notebook.command.new": "New Notebook",
 	"notebook.command.open": "Open Notebook",
 	"notebook.analyzeJupyterNotebook": "Analyze in Notebook",
diff --git a/extensions/notebook/src/common/constants.ts b/extensions/notebook/src/common/constants.ts
index 12ae561cc2..aed41b9154 100644
--- a/extensions/notebook/src/common/constants.ts
+++ b/extensions/notebook/src/common/constants.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ export const pinnedBooksConfigKey = 'pinnedNotebooks';
 export const maxBookSearchDepth = 'maxBookSearchDepth';
 export const remoteBookDownloadTimeout = 'remoteBookDownloadTimeout';
 export const collapseBookItems = 'collapseBookItems';
+export const allowRoot = 'allowRoot';
 
 export const winPlatform = 'win32';
 export const macPlatform = 'darwin';
diff --git a/extensions/notebook/src/jupyter/serverInstance.ts b/extensions/notebook/src/jupyter/serverInstance.ts
index efac428d9e..4dd0e9bea3 100644
--- a/extensions/notebook/src/jupyter/serverInstance.ts
+++ b/extensions/notebook/src/jupyter/serverInstance.ts
@@ -204,12 +204,16 @@ export class PerFolderServerInstance implements IServerInstance {
 	 * started when the log message with URL to connect to is emitted.
 	 */
 	protected async startInternal(): Promise<void> {
+		let startCommand: string;
+		let notebookConfig: vscode.WorkspaceConfiguration = vscode.workspace.getConfiguration(constants.notebookConfigKey);
+		let allowRoot: boolean = notebookConfig.get(constants.allowRoot);
 		if (this.isStarted) {
 			return;
 		}
 		let notebookDirectory = this.getNotebookDirectory();
 		this._token = await utils.getRandomToken();
-		let startCommand = `"${this.options.install.pythonExecutable}" "${this.notebookScriptPath}" --no-browser --ip=127.0.0.1 --allow-root --no-mathjax --notebook-dir "${notebookDirectory}" --NotebookApp.token=${this._token}`;
+		const allowRootParam = allowRoot ? '--allow-root' : '';
+		startCommand = `"${this.options.install.pythonExecutable}" "${this.notebookScriptPath}" --no-browser --ip=127.0.0.1 ${allowRootParam} --no-mathjax --notebook-dir "${notebookDirectory}" --NotebookApp.token=${this._token}`;
 		this.notifyStarting(this.options.install, startCommand);
 
 		// Execute the command