diff --git a/playbooks/zuul/run-base-post.yaml b/playbooks/zuul/run-base-post.yaml
index c0fac34324..17b5596006 100644
--- a/playbooks/zuul/run-base-post.yaml
+++ b/playbooks/zuul/run-base-post.yaml
@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@
   tasks:
     - include_role:
         name: collect-container-logs
+        # The zuul user isn't part of the docker group on our fake
+        # production systems. Work around this by operating as root
+        # when collecting logs.  This collects podman containers
+        # running as root; we may need to think about some flags for
+        # this role for collecting logs from containers under other
+        # users.
+        apply:
+          become: yes
       vars:
         container_command: "{{ item }}"
       loop: