diff --git a/cli/lib/tasks/verify.js b/cli/lib/tasks/verify.js
index 6b24f53aed..48830022aa 100644
--- a/cli/lib/tasks/verify.js
+++ b/cli/lib/tasks/verify.js
@@ -72,10 +72,6 @@ const runSmokeTest = (binaryDir, options) => {
 
   debug('needs Xvfb?', needsXvfb)
 
-  const isLinuxLike = () => process.platform !== 'win32'
-
-  const isRootUser = () => process.geteuid() === 0
-
   /**
    * Spawn Cypress running smoke test to check if all operating system
    * dependencies are good.
@@ -84,7 +80,7 @@ const runSmokeTest = (binaryDir, options) => {
     const random = _.random(0, 1000)
     const args = ['--smoke-test', `--ping=${random}`]
 
-    if (isLinuxLike() && isRootUser()) {
+    if (needsSandbox()) {
       // electron requires --no-sandbox to run as root
       args.unshift('--no-sandbox')
     }
@@ -360,7 +356,18 @@ const start = (options = {}) => {
   })
 }
 
+const isLinuxLike = () => process.platform !== 'win32'
+
+const isRootUser = () => process.geteuid() === 0
+
+/**
+ * Returns true if running on a system where Electron needs "--no-sandbox" flag.
+ * @see https://crbug.com/638180
+*/
+const needsSandbox = () => isLinuxLike() && isRootUser()
+
 module.exports = {
   start,
   VERIFY_TEST_RUNNER_TIMEOUT_MS,
+  needsSandbox,
 }
diff --git a/scripts/binary/smoke.coffee b/scripts/binary/smoke.coffee
index fdd77f358b..8bffae9bfa 100644
--- a/scripts/binary/smoke.coffee
+++ b/scripts/binary/smoke.coffee
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ execa = require('execa')
 path = require("path")
 Promise = require("bluebird")
 os = require("os")
+verify = require("../../cli/lib/tasks/verify")
 Fixtures = require("../../packages/server/test/support/helpers/fixtures")
 
 fs = Promise.promisifyAll(fse)
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@ shouldSkipProjectTest = () ->
   os.platform() == "win32"
 
 runSmokeTest = (buildAppExecutable) ->
-  rand = "" + Math.random()
+  rand = String(_.random(0, 1000))
   console.log("executable path #{buildAppExecutable}")
 
   hasRightResponse = (stdout) ->
@@ -25,7 +26,11 @@ runSmokeTest = (buildAppExecutable) ->
     lines = stdout.split('\n').map((s) -> s.trim())
     return lines.includes(rand)
 
-  execa "#{buildAppExecutable}", ["--smoke-test", "--ping=#{rand}"], {timeout: 10000}
+  args = ["--smoke-test", "--ping=#{rand}"]
+  if verify.needsSandbox()
+    args.push("--no-sandbox")
+
+  execa "#{buildAppExecutable}", args, {timeout: 10000}
   .catch (err) ->
     console.error("smoke test failed with error %s", err.message)
     throw err