diff --git a/GNUmakefile b/GNUmakefile
index ca8718ca54..6d486ed341 100644
--- a/GNUmakefile
+++ b/GNUmakefile
@@ -374,6 +374,7 @@ TEST_PACKAGES_LINUX := \
 	io/ioutil \
 	mime/quotedprintable \
 	net \
+	os/user \
 	strconv \
 	testing/fstest \
 	text/tabwriter \
@@ -384,6 +385,7 @@ TEST_PACKAGES_DARWIN := $(TEST_PACKAGES_LINUX)
 TEST_PACKAGES_WINDOWS := \
 	compress/flate \
 	crypto/hmac \
+	os/user \
 	strconv \
 	text/template/parse \
 	$(nil)
diff --git a/compileopts/config.go b/compileopts/config.go
index ab6de4e44c..b3d415d075 100644
--- a/compileopts/config.go
+++ b/compileopts/config.go
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ func (c *Config) BuildTags() []string {
 	tags = append(tags, []string{
 		"tinygo",                                     // that's the compiler
 		"purego",                                     // to get various crypto packages to work
+		"osusergo",                                   // to get os/user to work
 		"math_big_pure_go",                           // to get math/big to work
 		"gc." + c.GC(), "scheduler." + c.Scheduler(), // used inside the runtime package
 		"serial." + c.Serial()}...) // used inside the machine package
diff --git a/loader/goroot.go b/loader/goroot.go
index 72b2f33355..76e47226d5 100644
--- a/loader/goroot.go
+++ b/loader/goroot.go
@@ -246,7 +246,6 @@ func pathsToOverride(goMinor int, needsSyscallPackage bool) map[string]bool {
 		"net/":                  true,
 		"net/http/":             false,
 		"os/":                   true,
-		"os/user/":              false,
 		"reflect/":              false,
 		"runtime/":              false,
 		"sync/":                 true,
diff --git a/src/os/user/user.go b/src/os/user/user.go
deleted file mode 100644
index ee63625f2b..0000000000
--- a/src/os/user/user.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,59 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2016 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
-// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
-// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
-
-package user
-
-import "errors"
-
-// User represents a user account.
-type User struct {
-	// Uid is the user ID.
-	// On POSIX systems, this is a decimal number representing the uid.
-	// On Windows, this is a security identifier (SID) in a string format.
-	// On Plan 9, this is the contents of /dev/user.
-	Uid string
-	// Gid is the primary group ID.
-	// On POSIX systems, this is a decimal number representing the gid.
-	// On Windows, this is a SID in a string format.
-	// On Plan 9, this is the contents of /dev/user.
-	Gid string
-	// Username is the login name.
-	Username string
-	// Name is the user's real or display name.
-	// It might be blank.
-	// On POSIX systems, this is the first (or only) entry in the GECOS field
-	// list.
-	// On Windows, this is the user's display name.
-	// On Plan 9, this is the contents of /dev/user.
-	Name string
-	// HomeDir is the path to the user's home directory (if they have one).
-	HomeDir string
-}
-
-// Current returns the current user.
-//
-// The first call will cache the current user information.
-// Subsequent calls will return the cached value and will not reflect
-// changes to the current user.
-func Current() (*User, error) {
-	return nil, errors.New("user: Current not implemented")
-}
-
-// Lookup always returns an error.
-func Lookup(username string) (*User, error) {
-	return nil, errors.New("user: Lookup not implemented")
-}
-
-// Group represents a grouping of users.
-//
-// On POSIX systems Gid contains a decimal number representing the group ID.
-type Group struct {
-	Gid  string // group ID
-	Name string // group name
-}
-
-// LookupGroup always returns an error.
-func LookupGroup(name string) (*Group, error) {
-	return nil, errors.New("user: LookupGroup not implemented")
-}