diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 11cb0cf..64748b0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -43,7 +43,9 @@ For more usage examples, have a look to the recipes in test/cookbooks/hipsnip-je
 ## Attributes
 
 * `node["jetty"]["user"]` - name of the jetty user, default "jetty".
+* `node["jetty"]["uid"]` - Numeric UID of the jetty user, default is to be dynamically allocated by the system.
 * `node["jetty"]["group"]` - name of the jetty group, default "jetty".
+* `node["jetty"]["gid"]` - Numeric GID of the jetty group, default is to be dynamically allocated by the system.
 * `node["jetty"]["home"]` - location of the home directory of jetty, default "/usr/share/jetty".
 * `node["jetty"]["port"]` - port number of where jetty listens, default 8080
 * `node["jetty"]["args"]` - arguments pass to jetty at startup , default [], e.g: ["jetty.logs=/var/log/jetty"].
@@ -94,4 +96,4 @@ Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-limitations under the License.
\ No newline at end of file
+limitations under the License.
diff --git a/attributes/default.rb b/attributes/default.rb
index 97452cc..d222e3f 100644
--- a/attributes/default.rb
+++ b/attributes/default.rb
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 #
 default['jetty']['user'] = 'jetty'
+default['jetty']['uid'] = nil # Default behaviour is to allow the system to pick the UID dynamically
 default['jetty']['group'] = 'jetty'
+default['jetty']['gid'] = nil # Default behaviour is to allow the system to pick the GID dynamically
 default['jetty']['home'] = '/usr/share/jetty'
 default['jetty']['port'] = 8080
 # The default arguments to pass to jetty.
@@ -48,4 +50,4 @@
 default['jetty']['syslog']['tag'] = ''
 
 default['jetty']['start_ini']['custom'] = false
-default['jetty']['start_ini']['content'] = []
\ No newline at end of file
+default['jetty']['start_ini']['content'] = []
diff --git a/recipes/default.rb b/recipes/default.rb
index 8e128f0..4c1127f 100644
--- a/recipes/default.rb
+++ b/recipes/default.rb
@@ -50,12 +50,18 @@
   home  node['jetty']['home']
   shell '/bin/false'
   system true
+  unless node['jetty']['uid'].nil?
+    uid node['jetty']['uid']
+  end
   action :create
 end
 
 group node['jetty']['group'] do
   members node['jetty']['user']
   system true
+  unless node['jetty']['gid'].nil?
+    gid node['jetty']['gid']
+  end
   action :create
 end