diff --git a/advanced/Scripts/utils.sh b/advanced/Scripts/utils.sh
index d4a6957c..f5dc89fb 100755
--- a/advanced/Scripts/utils.sh
+++ b/advanced/Scripts/utils.sh
@@ -86,9 +86,17 @@ getFTLConfigValue(){
 # setFTLConfigValue dns.upstreams '[ "8.8.8.8" , "8.8.4.4" ]'
 #######################
 setFTLConfigValue(){
-  pihole-FTL --config "${1}" "${2}" >/dev/null
-  if [ $? -eq 5 ]; then
-    printf "  %s %s set by environment variable. Please unset it to use this function\n" "${CROSS}" "${1}"
-    exit 5
-  fi
+    local err
+    { pihole-FTL --config "${1}" "${2}" >/dev/null; err="$?"; } || true
+
+    case $err in
+    0) ;;
+    5)
+        # FTL returns 5 if the value was set by an environment variable and is therefore read-only
+        printf "  %s %s set by environment variable. Please unset it to use this function\n" "${CROSS}" "${1}";
+        exit 5;;
+    *)
+        printf "  %s Failed to set %s. Try with sudo power\n" "${CROSS}" "${1}"
+        exit 1
+    esac
 }
diff --git a/pihole b/pihole
index d55892f8..c68575a9 100755
--- a/pihole
+++ b/pihole
@@ -566,7 +566,7 @@ case "${1}" in
   "enable"                        ) need_root=0;;
   "disable"                       ) need_root=0;;
   "-d" | "debug"                  ) ;;
-  "-g" | "updateGravity"          ) need_root=0;;
+  "-g" | "updateGravity"          ) ;;
   "reloaddns"                     ) ;;
   "reloadlists"                   ) ;;
   "setpassword"                   ) ;;
@@ -587,7 +587,8 @@ fi
 
 # Check if the current user is not root and if the command
 # requires root. If so, exit with an error message.
-if [[ $EUID -ne 0 && need_root -eq 1 ]];then
+# Add an exception for the user "pihole" to allow the webserver running gravity
+if [[ ( $EUID -ne 0 && ${USER} != "pihole" ) && need_root -eq 1 ]]; then
   echo -e "  ${CROSS} The Pi-hole command requires root privileges, try:"
   echo -e "      ${COL_GREEN}sudo pihole $*${COL_NC}"
   exit 1