diff --git a/salt/grains/core.py b/salt/grains/core.py
index 7dd350a34536..5ea4c07130c8 100644
--- a/salt/grains/core.py
+++ b/salt/grains/core.py
@@ -2320,9 +2320,14 @@ def _legacy_linux_distribution_data(grains, os_release, lsb_has_error):
     log.trace(
         "Getting OS name, release, and codename from distro id, version, codename"
     )
-    (osname, osrelease, oscodename) = (
-        x.strip('"').strip("'") for x in _linux_distribution()
-    )
+    try:
+        (osname, osrelease, oscodename) = (
+            x.strip('"').strip("'") for x in _linux_distribution()
+        )
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
+        # When running under the salt user, a call to `lsb_release` might raise
+        # permissin errors.
+        return grains
     # Try to assign these three names based on the lsb info, they tend to
     # be more accurate than what python gets from /etc/DISTRO-release.
     # It's worth noting that Ubuntu has patched their Python distribution