diff --git a/ipn/ipnauth/ipnauth_windows.go b/ipn/ipnauth/ipnauth_windows.go
index 86cfd7969..c38b6db0f 100644
--- a/ipn/ipnauth/ipnauth_windows.go
+++ b/ipn/ipnauth/ipnauth_windows.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"tailscale.com/ipn"
 	"tailscale.com/safesocket"
 	"tailscale.com/types/logger"
+	"tailscale.com/util/winutil"
 )
 
 // GetConnIdentity extracts the identity information from the connection
@@ -64,7 +65,28 @@ func (t *token) IsAdministrator() (bool, error) {
 		return false, err
 	}
 
-	return t.t.IsMember(baSID)
+	isMember, err := t.t.IsMember(baSID)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	if isMember {
+		return true, nil
+	}
+
+	isLimited, err := winutil.IsTokenLimited(t.t)
+	if err != nil || !isLimited {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	// Try to obtain a linked token, and if present, check it.
+	// (This should be the elevated token associated with limited UAC accounts.)
+	linkedToken, err := t.t.GetLinkedToken()
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	defer linkedToken.Close()
+
+	return linkedToken.IsMember(baSID)
 }
 
 func (t *token) IsElevated() bool {
diff --git a/ipn/ipnserver/server.go b/ipn/ipnserver/server.go
index 755919275..1ff4cc1ab 100644
--- a/ipn/ipnserver/server.go
+++ b/ipn/ipnserver/server.go
@@ -367,8 +367,7 @@ func (s *Server) connCanFetchCerts(ci *ipnauth.ConnIdentity) bool {
 // connIsLocalAdmin reports whether ci has administrative access to the local
 // machine, for whatever that means with respect to the current OS.
 //
-// This returns true only on Windows machines when the client user is a
-// member of the built-in Administrators group (but not necessarily elevated).
+// This returns true only on Windows machines when the client user is elevated.
 // This is useful because, on Windows, tailscaled itself always runs with
 // elevated rights: we want to avoid privilege escalation for certain mutative operations.
 func (s *Server) connIsLocalAdmin(ci *ipnauth.ConnIdentity) bool {
@@ -381,12 +380,7 @@ func (s *Server) connIsLocalAdmin(ci *ipnauth.ConnIdentity) bool {
 	}
 	defer tok.Close()
 
-	isAdmin, err := tok.IsAdministrator()
-	if err != nil {
-		s.logf("ipnauth.WindowsToken.IsAdministrator() error: %v", err)
-		return false
-	}
-	return isAdmin
+	return tok.IsElevated()
 }
 
 // addActiveHTTPRequest adds c to the server's list of active HTTP requests.
diff --git a/util/winutil/winutil_windows.go b/util/winutil/winutil_windows.go
index a686e6335..2643314f5 100644
--- a/util/winutil/winutil_windows.go
+++ b/util/winutil/winutil_windows.go
@@ -367,6 +367,30 @@ func getTokenPrimaryGroupInfo(token windows.Token) (*windows.Tokenprimarygroup,
 	return (*windows.Tokenprimarygroup)(unsafe.Pointer(&buf[0])), nil
 }
 
+type tokenElevationType int32
+
+const (
+	tokenElevationTypeDefault tokenElevationType = 1
+	tokenElevationTypeFull    tokenElevationType = 2
+	tokenElevationTypeLimited tokenElevationType = 3
+)
+
+func getTokenElevationType(token windows.Token) (result tokenElevationType, err error) {
+	var actualLen uint32
+	p := (*byte)(unsafe.Pointer(&result))
+	err = windows.GetTokenInformation(token, windows.TokenElevationType, p, uint32(unsafe.Sizeof(result)), &actualLen)
+	return result, err
+}
+
+// IsTokenLimited returns whether token is a limited UAC token.
+func IsTokenLimited(token windows.Token) (bool, error) {
+	elevationType, err := getTokenElevationType(token)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	return elevationType == tokenElevationTypeLimited, nil
+}
+
 // UserSIDs contains the SIDs for a Windows NT token object's associated user
 // as well as its primary group.
 type UserSIDs struct {