diff --git a/openhands/runtime/impl/modal/modal_runtime.py b/openhands/runtime/impl/modal/modal_runtime.py
index 40014f8aa3c1..fb036a6d72be 100644
--- a/openhands/runtime/impl/modal/modal_runtime.py
+++ b/openhands/runtime/impl/modal/modal_runtime.py
@@ -252,6 +252,7 @@ def _init_sandbox(
                 self.config.sandbox.user_id,
                 plugin_args,
                 browsergym_args,
+                is_root=not self.config.run_as_openhands,  # is_root=True when running as root
             )
             self.log('debug', f'Starting container with command: {sandbox_start_cmd}')
             self.sandbox = modal.Sandbox.create(
diff --git a/openhands/runtime/impl/remote/remote_runtime.py b/openhands/runtime/impl/remote/remote_runtime.py
index d996441b66c9..cca97392f5a8 100644
--- a/openhands/runtime/impl/remote/remote_runtime.py
+++ b/openhands/runtime/impl/remote/remote_runtime.py
@@ -235,6 +235,7 @@ def _start_runtime(self):
             self.config.sandbox.user_id,
             plugin_args,
             browsergym_args,
+            is_root=not self.config.run_as_openhands,  # is_root=True when running as root
         )
         start_request = {
             'image': self.container_image,
diff --git a/openhands/runtime/impl/runloop/runloop_runtime.py b/openhands/runtime/impl/runloop/runloop_runtime.py
index 36ad4590b7a5..0b9310cc3021 100644
--- a/openhands/runtime/impl/runloop/runloop_runtime.py
+++ b/openhands/runtime/impl/runloop/runloop_runtime.py
@@ -171,6 +171,7 @@ def _create_new_devbox(self) -> DevboxView:
             self.config.sandbox.user_id,
             plugin_args,
             browsergym_args,
+            is_root=not self.config.run_as_openhands,  # is_root=True when running as root
         )
 
         # Add some additional commands based on our image
diff --git a/openhands/runtime/utils/command.py b/openhands/runtime/utils/command.py
index 1617ec20f36f..35a1252336c0 100644
--- a/openhands/runtime/utils/command.py
+++ b/openhands/runtime/utils/command.py
@@ -5,8 +5,9 @@ def get_remote_startup_command(
     user_id: int,
     plugin_args: list[str],
     browsergym_args: list[str],
+    is_root: bool = False,
 ):
-    return [
+    base_cmd = [
         '/openhands/micromamba/bin/micromamba',
         'run',
         '-n',
@@ -27,3 +28,18 @@ def get_remote_startup_command(
         str(user_id),
         *browsergym_args,
     ]
+
+    if is_root:
+        # If running as root, set highest priority and lowest OOM score
+        cmd_str = ' '.join(base_cmd)
+        return [
+            'nice',
+            '-n',
+            '-20',  # Highest priority
+            'sh',
+            '-c',
+            f'echo -1000 > /proc/self/oom_score_adj && exec {cmd_str}'
+        ]
+    else:
+        # If not root, run with normal priority
+        return base_cmd