diff --git a/src/network.sh b/src/network.sh
index 153e951..31bf35d 100644
--- a/src/network.sh
+++ b/src/network.sh
@@ -796,7 +796,7 @@ else
         closeBridge
         NETWORK="user"
 
-        if [[ "$PODMAN" != [Yy1]* ]]; then
+        if [[ "$ROOTLESS" != [Yy1]* || "$DEBUG" == [Yy1]* ]]; then
           msg="falling back to user-mode networking!"
           msg="failed to setup NAT networking, $msg"
           warn "$msg"