diff --git a/attributes/default.rb b/attributes/default.rb
index c85c5d6..d9b2695 100644
--- a/attributes/default.rb
+++ b/attributes/default.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 default[:valhalla][:user][:name]    = 'valhalla'
+default[:valhalla][:user][:uid]     = '3445'
+default[:valhalla][:user][:git]     = '3445'
 default[:valhalla][:base_dir]       = '/data'
 default[:valhalla][:s3bucket]       = 'mapzen.valhalla'
 default[:valhalla][:s3bucket_dir]   = 'prod'
diff --git a/recipes/default.rb b/recipes/default.rb
index 12f8765..6bd955b 100644
--- a/recipes/default.rb
+++ b/recipes/default.rb
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 
 # make the valhalla user
 user node[:valhalla][:user][:name] do
+  uid         node[:valhalla][:user][:uid]
+  gid         node[:valhalla][:user][:gid]
   manage_home false
   home        node[:valhalla][:base_dir]
   not_if      { node[:valhalla][:user][:name] == 'root' }