diff --git a/drivers/tty/vt/vt_ioctl.c b/drivers/tty/vt/vt_ioctl.c
index 28993a3d0acb..deb3b3f93461 100644
--- a/drivers/tty/vt/vt_ioctl.c
+++ b/drivers/tty/vt/vt_ioctl.c
@@ -406,6 +406,8 @@ static int vt_k_ioctl(struct tty_struct *tty, unsigned int cmd,
 	/* this could be folded into KDSKBMODE, but for compatibility
 	   reasons it is not so easy to fold KDGKBMETA into KDGKBMODE */
 	case KDSKBMETA:
+		if (!perm)
+			return -EPERM;
 		return vt_do_kdskbmeta(console, arg);
 
 	case KDGKBMETA: