diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/vacuumdb.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/vacuumdb.sgml
index 53147480515e..84c76d7350c8 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/vacuumdb.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/vacuumdb.sgml
@@ -292,6 +292,14 @@ PostgreSQL documentation
         This option can only be used in conjunction with
         <option>--analyze-only</option> or <option>--analyze-in-stages</option>.
        </para>
+       <para>
+        Note that <option>--missing-stats-only</option> requires
+        <literal>SELECT</literal> privileges on
+        <link linkend="catalog-pg-statistic"><structname>pg_statistic</structname></link>
+        and
+        <link linkend="catalog-pg-statistic-ext-data"><structname>pg_statistic_ext_data</structname></link>,
+        which are restricted to superusers by default.
+       </para>
       </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
 
diff --git a/src/bin/scripts/vacuumdb.c b/src/bin/scripts/vacuumdb.c
index fd236087e90a..2087b4131a2e 100644
--- a/src/bin/scripts/vacuumdb.c
+++ b/src/bin/scripts/vacuumdb.c
@@ -801,6 +801,30 @@ retrieve_objects(PGconn *conn, vacuumingOptions *vacopts,
 	SimpleStringList *found_objs = palloc0(sizeof(SimpleStringList));
 	bool		objects_listed = false;
 
+	if (vacopts->missing_stats_only)
+	{
+		PQExpBufferData aclcheck;
+
+		initPQExpBuffer(&aclcheck);
+		appendPQExpBufferStr(&aclcheck,
+							 "SELECT has_table_privilege('pg_catalog.pg_statistic', 'select'), "
+							 "has_table_privilege('pg_catalog.pg_statistic_ext_data', 'select')");
+		res = executeQuery(conn, aclcheck.data, echo);
+		termPQExpBuffer(&aclcheck);
+		if (strcmp(PQgetvalue(res, 0, 0), "t") != 0)
+		{
+			PQfinish(conn);
+			pg_fatal("--missing-stats-only requires SELECT privileges on pg_statistic");
+		}
+		else if (strcmp(PQgetvalue(res, 0, 1), "t") != 0)
+		{
+			PQfinish(conn);
+			pg_fatal("--missing-stats-only requires SELECT privileges on pg_statistic_ext_data");
+		}
+
+		termPQExpBuffer(&aclcheck);
+	}
+
 	initPQExpBuffer(&catalog_query);
 	for (cell = objects ? objects->head : NULL; cell; cell = cell->next)
 	{