diff --git a/uwsgi.c b/uwsgi.c
index 4f9e3bac..5f0355b3 100644
--- a/uwsgi.c
+++ b/uwsgi.c
@@ -2741,9 +2741,29 @@ void manage_opt(int i, char *optarg) {
 		break;
 	case LONG_ARGS_GID:
 		uwsgi.gid = atoi(optarg);
+		if (!uwsgi.gid) {
+			struct group *ugroup = getgrnam(optarg);
+			if (ugroup) {
+				uwsgi.gid = ugroup->gr_gid ;
+			}
+			else {
+				uwsgi_log("group %s not found.\n", optarg);
+				exit(1);
+			}
+		}
 		break;
 	case LONG_ARGS_UID:
 		uwsgi.uid = atoi(optarg);
+		if (!uwsgi.uid) {
+			struct passwd *upasswd = getpwnam(optarg);
+			if (upasswd) {
+				uwsgi.uid = upasswd->pw_uid ;
+			}
+			else {
+				uwsgi_log("user %s not found.\n", optarg);
+				exit(1);
+			}
+		}
 		break;
 	case LONG_ARGS_BINARY_PATH:
 		uwsgi.binary_path = optarg;
diff --git a/uwsgi.h b/uwsgi.h
index bf654a85..524b74c2 100644
--- a/uwsgi.h
+++ b/uwsgi.h
@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@
 
 #include <dirent.h>
 
+#include <pwd.h>
+#include <grp.h>
+
+
 #include <sys/utsname.h>
 
 // linux has not strlcpy