diff --git a/pkg/cluster/majorversionupgrade.go b/pkg/cluster/majorversionupgrade.go
index 3f6f37159..f930bce7a 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/majorversionupgrade.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/majorversionupgrade.go
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) majorVersionUpgrade() error {
 		if c.currentMajorVersion < desiredVersion {
 			podName := &spec.NamespacedName{Namespace: masterPod.Namespace, Name: masterPod.Name}
 			c.logger.Infof("triggering major version upgrade on pod %s", masterPod.Name)
-			_, err := c.ExecCommand(podName, fmt.Sprintf("python3 /scripts/inplace_upgrade.py %d | tee last_upgrade.log", numberOfPods))
+			_, err := c.ExecCommand(podName, fmt.Sprintf("su postgres -c \"python3 /scripts/inplace_upgrade.py %d 2>&1 | tee last_upgrade.log\"", numberOfPods))
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}