diff --git a/libexec/rc/rc.d/ntpd b/libexec/rc/rc.d/ntpd
--- a/libexec/rc/rc.d/ntpd
+++ b/libexec/rc/rc.d/ntpd
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 _ntp_default_dir="/var/db/ntp"
 _ntp_default_driftfile="${_ntp_default_dir}/ntpd.drift"
 _ntp_old_driftfile="/var/db/ntpd.drift"
+_ntpd_user_arg="-u ntpd:ntpd"
 
 pidfile="${_ntp_default_dir}/${name}.pid"
 
@@ -101,9 +102,12 @@
 	# by the admin, we don't add the option.  If the file exists in the old
 	# default location we use that, else we use the new default location.
 	if can_run_nonroot; then
-		_user="ntpd"
 		driftopt="-f ${_ntp_default_driftfile}"
-	elif grep -q "^[ \t]*driftfile" "${ntpd_config}" ||
+	elif [ -n "${ntpd_user}" ]; then
+		_ntpd_user_arg="-u ${ntpd_user}"
+		unset ntpd_user
+	fi
+	if grep -q "^[ \t]*driftfile" "${ntpd_config}" ||
 	     [ -n "${rc_flags}" ] &&
 	     ( [ -z "${rc_flags##*-f*}" ] ||
 	       [ -z "${rc_flags##*--driftfile*}" ] ); then
@@ -115,7 +119,7 @@
 	fi
 
 	# Set command_args based on the various config vars.
-	command_args="-p ${pidfile} -c ${ntpd_config} ${driftopt}"
+	command_args="-p ${pidfile} -c ${ntpd_config} ${driftopt} ${_ntpd_user_arg}"
 	if checkyesno ntpd_sync_on_start; then
 		command_args="${command_args} -g"
 	fi