diff --git a/buildbot_nix/github_projects.py b/buildbot_nix/github_projects.py
index fb8f4b0..6dfa335 100644
--- a/buildbot_nix/github_projects.py
+++ b/buildbot_nix/github_projects.py
@@ -133,10 +133,18 @@ def create_project_hook(
 
 
 def refresh_projects(github_token: str, repo_cache_file: Path) -> None:
-    repos = paginated_github_request(
-        "https://api.github.com/user/repos?per_page=100",
-        github_token,
-    )
+    repos = []
+
+    for repo in paginated_github_request(
+            "https://api.github.com/user/repos?per_page=100",
+            github_token,
+    ):
+        if not repo["permissions"]["admin"]:
+            name = repo['full_name']
+            log.msg(f"skipping {name} because we do not have admin privileges, needed for hook management")
+        else:
+            repos.append(repo)
+
     with NamedTemporaryFile("w", delete=False, dir=repo_cache_file.parent) as f:
         try:
             f.write(json.dumps(repos))