diff --git a/src/libstore/gc.cc b/src/libstore/gc.cc
index cb820e2d5..2cd9de1d3 100644
--- a/src/libstore/gc.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/gc.cc
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ namespace nix {
 
 
 static std::string gcSocketPath = "/gc-socket/socket";
+static std::string rootsSocketPath = "/gc-roots-socket/socket";
 static std::string gcRootsDir = "gcroots";
 
 
@@ -143,7 +144,7 @@ void LocalStore::addTempRoot(const StorePath & path)
         auto fdRootsSocket(_fdRootsSocket.lock());
 
         if (!*fdRootsSocket) {
-            auto socketPath = stateDir.get() + gcSocketPath;
+            auto socketPath = stateDir.get() + rootsSocketPath;
             debug("connecting to '%s'", socketPath);
             *fdRootsSocket = createUnixDomainSocket();
             try {
@@ -304,8 +305,10 @@ void LocalStore::findRoots(const Path & path, unsigned char type, Roots & roots)
 }
 
 
-void LocalStore::findRootsNoTemp(Roots & roots, bool censor)
+void LocalStore::findRootsNoTempNoExternalDaemon(Roots & roots, bool censor)
 {
+    debug("Can’t connect to the tracing daemon socket, fallback to the internal trace");
+
     /* Process direct roots in {gcroots,profiles}. */
     findRoots(stateDir + "/" + gcRootsDir, DT_UNKNOWN, roots);
     findRoots(stateDir + "/profiles", DT_UNKNOWN, roots);
@@ -322,11 +325,57 @@ Roots LocalStore::findRoots(bool censor)
     Roots roots;
     findRootsNoTemp(roots, censor);
 
-    findTempRoots(roots, censor);
+    FDs fds;
+    findTempRoots(fds, roots, censor);
 
     return roots;
 }
 
+void LocalStore::findRootsNoTemp(Roots & roots, bool censor)
+{
+
+    auto fd = createUnixDomainSocket();
+
+    std::string socketPath = settings.gcSocketPath.get() != "auto"
+        ? settings.gcSocketPath.get()
+        : stateDir.get() + gcSocketPath;
+
+    try {
+        nix::connect(fd.get(), socketPath);
+    } catch (SysError & e) {
+        return findRootsNoTempNoExternalDaemon(roots, censor);
+    }
+
+    experimentalFeatureSettings.require(Xp::ExternalGCDaemon);
+
+    try {
+        StringMap unescapes = {
+            { "\\n", "\n"},
+            { "\\t", "\t"},
+        };
+        while (true) {
+            auto line = readLine(fd.get());
+            if (line.empty()) break; // TODO: Handle the broken symlinks
+            auto parsedLine = tokenizeString<std::vector<std::string>>(line, "\t");
+            if (parsedLine.size() != 2)
+                throw Error("Invalid result from the gc helper");
+            auto rawDestPath = rewriteStrings(parsedLine[0], unescapes);
+            auto retainer = rewriteStrings(parsedLine[1], unescapes);
+            if (!isInStore(rawDestPath)) continue;
+            try {
+                auto destPath = toStorePath(rawDestPath).first;
+                if (!isValidPath(destPath)) continue;
+                roots[destPath].insert(
+                    (!censor || isInDir(retainer, stateDir)) ? retainer : censored);
+            } catch (Error &) {
+            }
+        }
+    } catch (EndOfFile &) {
+    }
+
+    findRuntimeRoots(roots, censor);
+}
+
 typedef std::unordered_map<Path, std::unordered_set<std::string>> UncheckedRoots;
 
 static void readProcLink(const std::string & file, UncheckedRoots & roots)
@@ -516,7 +565,7 @@ void LocalStore::collectGarbage(const GCOptions & options, GCResults & results)
         readFile(*p);
 
     /* Start the server for receiving new roots. */
-    auto socketPath = stateDir.get() + gcSocketPath;
+    auto socketPath = stateDir.get() + rootsSocketPath;
     createDirs(dirOf(socketPath));
     auto fdServer = createUnixDomainSocket(socketPath, 0666);
 
@@ -625,7 +674,7 @@ void LocalStore::collectGarbage(const GCOptions & options, GCResults & results)
     printInfo("finding garbage collector roots...");
     Roots rootMap;
     if (!options.ignoreLiveness)
-        findRootsNoTemp(rootMap, true);
+        rootMap = findRoots(true);
 
     for (auto & i : rootMap) roots.insert(i.first);
 
diff --git a/src/libstore/globals.hh b/src/libstore/globals.hh
index 8330d6571..2d2762ea4 100644
--- a/src/libstore/globals.hh
+++ b/src/libstore/globals.hh
@@ -124,6 +124,13 @@ public:
           section of the manual for supported store types and settings.
         )"};
 
+    Setting<std::string> gcSocketPath {
+        this,
+        getEnv("NIX_GC_SOCKET_PATH").value_or("auto"),
+        "gc-socket-path",
+        "Path to the socket used to communicate with an external GC."
+    };
+
     Setting<bool> keepFailed{this, false, "keep-failed",
         "Whether to keep temporary directories of failed builds."};
 
diff --git a/src/libstore/local-store.hh b/src/libstore/local-store.hh
index ba56d3ead..c495e9391 100644
--- a/src/libstore/local-store.hh
+++ b/src/libstore/local-store.hh
@@ -328,6 +328,8 @@ private:
 
     void findRootsNoTemp(Roots & roots, bool censor);
 
+    void findRootsNoTempNoExternalDaemon(Roots & roots, bool censor);
+
     void findRuntimeRoots(Roots & roots, bool censor);
 
     std::pair<Path, AutoCloseFD> createTempDirInStore();
diff --git a/src/libutil/experimental-features.cc b/src/libutil/experimental-features.cc
index 9b46fc5b0..afa912f02 100644
--- a/src/libutil/experimental-features.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/experimental-features.cc
@@ -268,6 +268,20 @@ constexpr std::array<ExperimentalFeatureDetails, numXpFeatures> xpFeatureDetails
             Allow the use of the [`mounted SSH store`](@docroot@/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-help-stores.html#experimental-ssh-store-with-filesytem-mounted).
         )",
     },
+    {
+        .tag = Xp::ExternalGCDaemon,
+        .name = "external-gc-daemon",
+        .description = R"(
+            Make the garbage collector use an external daemon for the tracing.
+
+            This makes it possible to run a multi-user Nix daemon as a non-root
+            user (only the tracing daemon needs to be root), reducing the attack
+            surface a lot.
+
+            This requires more infrastructure and isn't directly supported by the
+            installer.
+        )"
+    },
     {
         .tag = Xp::VerifiedFetches,
         .name = "verified-fetches",
diff --git a/src/libutil/experimental-features.hh b/src/libutil/experimental-features.hh
index eae4fa9b8..bd6358859 100644
--- a/src/libutil/experimental-features.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/experimental-features.hh
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ enum struct ExperimentalFeature
     ReadOnlyLocalStore,
     ConfigurableImpureEnv,
     MountedSSHStore,
+    ExternalGCDaemon,
     VerifiedFetches,
 };