diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4234e48..1682406 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,10 +5,14 @@ and this project **does not adhere to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/sp
 
 ### Added
 
+* Force a user name with `-u,--user` option (default is still `logname(1)`).
+
 ### Changed
 
 ### Deprecated
 
+* `--autosysadmin` is replaced by `--user autosysadmin`
+
 ### Removed
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/evomaintenance.sh b/evomaintenance.sh
index da57b94..8e1e283 100755
--- a/evomaintenance.sh
+++ b/evomaintenance.sh
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ Options
      --no-evocheck           disable evocheck execution
      --auto                  use "auto" mode
      --no-auto               use "manual" mode (default)
-     --autosysadmin          author change as autosysadmin
+ -u, --user=USER             force USER value (default: logname(1))
  -v, --verbose               increase verbosity
  -n, --dry-run               actions are not executed
      --help                  print this message and exit
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ get_begin_date() {
 
 get_ip() {
     ip=$(get_who | cut -d" " -f6 | sed -e "s/^(// ; s/)$//")
-    if  is_autosysadmin || [ "${ip}" = ":0" ]; then
+    if is_autosysadmin || [ "${ip}" = ":0" ]; then
 	    ip="localhost"
     elif [ -z "${ip}" ]; then
 	    ip="unknown (no tty)"
@@ -127,8 +127,8 @@ get_now() {
 }
 
 get_user() {
-    if is_autosysadmin; then
-	    echo autosysadmin
+    if [ -n "${USER}" ]; then
+	    echo "${USER}"
     else
 	    logname
     fi
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ print_session_data() {
 }
 
 is_autosysadmin() {
-    test "${AUTOSYSADMIN}" -eq 1
+    test "${USER}" = "autosysadmin"
 }
 
 is_repository_readonly() {
@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ AUTO=${AUTO:-"0"}
 EVOCHECK=${EVOCHECK:-"0"}
 GIT_STATUS_MAX_LINES=${GIT_STATUS_MAX_LINES:-20}
 API_ENDPOINT=${API_ENDPOINT:-""}
-AUTOSYSADMIN=${AUTOSYSADMIN:-0}
+USER=${USER:-""}
 
 # initialize variables
 MESSAGE=""
@@ -483,8 +483,29 @@ while :; do
             AUTO=1
             ;;
         --autosysadmin)
+            # Deprecated, backward compatibility
             # author change as autosysadmin
-            AUTOSYSADMIN=1
+            printf 'WARNING: "--autosysadmin" is deprecated, use "--user autosysadmin".\n' >&2
+            USER="autosysadmin"
+            ;;
+        -u|--user)
+            # user options, with value speparated by space
+            if [ -n "$2" ]; then
+                USER=$2
+                shift
+            else
+                printf 'ERROR: "--user" requires a non-empty option argument.\n' >&2
+                exit 1
+            fi
+            ;;
+        --user=?*)
+            # message options, with value speparated by =
+            USER=${1#*=}
+            ;;
+        --user=)
+            # message options, without value
+            printf 'ERROR: "--user" requires a non-empty option argument.\n' >&2
+            exit 1
             ;;
         -n|--dry-run)
             # disable actual commands