diff --git a/src/global/NekoGui.cpp b/src/global/NekoGui.cpp
index 7943d7a..5bb20cc 100644
--- a/src/global/NekoGui.cpp
+++ b/src/global/NekoGui.cpp
@@ -355,6 +355,12 @@ namespace NekoGui {
     // System Utils
 
     QString FindNekoBoxCoreRealPath() {
+        // find in PATH first
+        QString path = QStandardPaths::findExecutable("nekobox_core");
+        if (!path.isEmpty()) {
+            return path;
+        }
+
         auto fn = QApplication::applicationDirPath() + "/nekobox_core";
         auto fi = QFileInfo(fn);
         if (fi.isSymLink()) return fi.symLinkTarget();
diff --git a/src/ui/mainwindow.cpp b/src/ui/mainwindow.cpp
index 9aa46b2..ba7137a 100644
--- a/src/ui/mainwindow.cpp
+++ b/src/ui/mainwindow.cpp
@@ -125,8 +125,7 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(QWidget *parent) : QMainWindow(parent), ui(new Ui::MainWi
     NekoGui::dataStore->core_port = MkPort();
     if (NekoGui::dataStore->core_port <= 0) NekoGui::dataStore->core_port = 19810;
 
-    auto core_path = QApplication::applicationDirPath() + "/";
-    core_path += "nekobox_core";
+    auto core_path = NekoGui::FindNekoBoxCoreRealPath();
 
     QStringList args;
     args.push_back("nekobox");
@@ -844,6 +843,15 @@ bool MainWindow::get_elevated_permissions(int reason) {
         return true;
     }
     if (NekoGui::IsAdmin()) return true;
+    QMessageBox::critical(
+        GetMessageBoxParent(),
+        tr("Unable to elevate privileges when installed with Nix"),
+        tr("Due to the read-only property of Nix store, we cannot set suid for nekobox_core. If you are using NixOS, please set `programs.nekoray.tunMode.enable` option to elevate privileges."),
+        QMessageBox::Ok
+    );
+    return false;
+    // The following code isn't effective, preserve to avoid merge conflict
+
 #ifdef Q_OS_LINUX
     if (!Linux_HavePkexec()) {
         MessageBoxWarning(software_name, "Please install \"pkexec\" first.");