diff --git a/compileopts/config.go b/compileopts/config.go
index eca037503c..b026bb1358 100644
--- a/compileopts/config.go
+++ b/compileopts/config.go
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ 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 osuser to work when go sources used
 		"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 8661bf67e0..3413d4ab23 100644
--- a/loader/goroot.go
+++ b/loader/goroot.go
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ func GetCachedGoroot(config *compileopts.Config) (string, error) {
 	}
 
 	// Find the overrides needed for the goroot.
-	overrides := pathsToOverride(config.GoMinorVersion, needsSyscallPackage(config.BuildTags()))
+	overrides := pathsToOverride(config)
 
 	// Resolve the merge links within the goroot.
 	merge, err := listGorootMergeLinks(goroot, tinygoroot, overrides)
@@ -225,9 +225,22 @@ func needsSyscallPackage(buildTags []string) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+func needsOsUserPackage(buildTags []string) bool {
+	for _, tag := range buildTags {
+		if tag == "baremetal" {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 // The boolean indicates whether to merge the subdirs. True means merge, false
 // means use the TinyGo version.
-func pathsToOverride(goMinor int, needsSyscallPackage bool) map[string]bool {
+func pathsToOverride(config *compileopts.Config) map[string]bool {
+
+	goMinor := config.GoMinorVersion
+	buildTags := config.BuildTags()
+
 	paths := map[string]bool{
 		"":                      true,
 		"crypto/":               true,
@@ -247,7 +260,6 @@ 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,
@@ -260,9 +272,14 @@ func pathsToOverride(goMinor int, needsSyscallPackage bool) map[string]bool {
 		paths["crypto/internal/boring/sig/"] = false
 	}
 
-	if needsSyscallPackage {
+	if needsSyscallPackage(buildTags) {
 		paths["syscall/"] = true // include syscall/js
 	}
+
+	if needsOsUserPackage(buildTags) {
+		paths["os/user/"] = true
+	}
+
 	return paths
 }
 
diff --git a/loader/loader.go b/loader/loader.go
index fe75e6c9b4..b2c6231886 100644
--- a/loader/loader.go
+++ b/loader/loader.go
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ func (p *Program) getOriginalPath(path string) string {
 			originalPath = realgorootPath
 		}
 		maybeInTinyGoRoot := false
-		for prefix := range pathsToOverride(p.config.GoMinorVersion, needsSyscallPackage(p.config.BuildTags())) {
+		for prefix := range pathsToOverride(p.config) {
 			if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
 				prefix = strings.ReplaceAll(prefix, "/", "\\")
 			}
diff --git a/src/os/user/unimplemented_user.go b/src/os/user/unimplemented_user.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3290f021ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/os/user/unimplemented_user.go
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+package user
+
+/*
+   os/user stubbed functions
+
+TODO: these should return unsupported / unimplemented errors
+
+*/
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+)
+
+// 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")
+}
+
+// LookupGroup always returns an error.
+func LookupGroup(name string) (*Group, error) {
+	return nil, errors.New("user: LookupGroup not implemented")
+}
diff --git a/src/os/user/user.go b/src/os/user/user.go
index ee63625f2b..a1109314c6 100644
--- a/src/os/user/user.go
+++ b/src/os/user/user.go
@@ -1,10 +1,18 @@
-// Copyright 2016 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Copyright 2011 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 allows user account lookups by name or id.
+
+tinygo: Largely copied from go1.22.6
+This is merged to "cached GOROOT/src/os/user" for baremetal systems
+*/
 package user
 
-import "errors"
+import (
+	"strconv"
+)
 
 // User represents a user account.
 type User struct {
@@ -31,20 +39,6 @@ type User struct {
 	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.
@@ -53,7 +47,33 @@ type Group struct {
 	Name string // group name
 }
 
-// LookupGroup always returns an error.
-func LookupGroup(name string) (*Group, error) {
-	return nil, errors.New("user: LookupGroup not implemented")
+// UnknownUserIdError is returned by LookupId when a user cannot be found.
+type UnknownUserIdError int
+
+func (e UnknownUserIdError) Error() string {
+	return "user: unknown userid " + strconv.Itoa(int(e))
+}
+
+// UnknownUserError is returned by Lookup when
+// a user cannot be found.
+type UnknownUserError string
+
+func (e UnknownUserError) Error() string {
+	return "user: unknown user " + string(e)
+}
+
+// UnknownGroupIdError is returned by LookupGroupId when
+// a group cannot be found.
+type UnknownGroupIdError string
+
+func (e UnknownGroupIdError) Error() string {
+	return "group: unknown groupid " + string(e)
+}
+
+// UnknownGroupError is returned by LookupGroup when
+// a group cannot be found.
+type UnknownGroupError string
+
+func (e UnknownGroupError) Error() string {
+	return "group: unknown group " + string(e)
 }