diff --git a/docker/client.py b/docker/client.py
index f79ec7bb09..e4a673552a 100644
--- a/docker/client.py
+++ b/docker/client.py
@@ -280,19 +280,23 @@ def events(self, since=None, until=None, filters=None, decode=None):
 
     @check_resource
     def exec_create(self, container, cmd, stdout=True, stderr=True, tty=False,
-                    privileged=False):
+                    privileged=False, user=''):
         if utils.compare_version('1.15', self._version) < 0:
             raise errors.InvalidVersion('Exec is not supported in API < 1.15')
         if privileged and utils.compare_version('1.19', self._version) < 0:
             raise errors.InvalidVersion(
                 'Privileged exec is not supported in API < 1.19'
             )
+        if user and utils.compare_version('1.19', self._version) < 0:
+            raise errors.InvalidVersion(
+                'User-specific exec is not supported in API < 1.19'
+            )
         if isinstance(cmd, six.string_types):
             cmd = shlex.split(str(cmd))
 
         data = {
             'Container': container,
-            'User': '',
+            'User': user,
             'Privileged': privileged,
             'Tty': tty,
             'AttachStdin': False,
diff --git a/docs/api.md b/docs/api.md
index b9b29c5a10..b890b96944 100644
--- a/docs/api.md
+++ b/docs/api.md
@@ -303,6 +303,7 @@ Sets up an exec instance in a running container.
 * stdout (bool): Attach to stdout of the exec command if true. Default: True
 * stderr (bool): Attach to stderr of the exec command if true. Default: True
 * tty (bool): Allocate a pseudo-TTY. Default: False
+* user (str): User to execute command as. Default: root
 
 **Returns** (dict): A dictionary with an exec 'Id' key.
 
diff --git a/tests/integration_test.py b/tests/integration_test.py
index 59919dabeb..9e4e9d9d16 100644
--- a/tests/integration_test.py
+++ b/tests/integration_test.py
@@ -844,6 +844,40 @@ def runTest(self):
         self.assertEqual(exec_log, expected)
 
 
+@unittest.skipIf(not EXEC_DRIVER_IS_NATIVE, 'Exec driver not native')
+class TestExecuteCommandStringAsUser(BaseTestCase):
+    def runTest(self):
+        container = self.client.create_container('busybox', 'cat',
+                                                 detach=True, stdin_open=True)
+        id = container['Id']
+        self.client.start(id)
+        self.tmp_containers.append(id)
+
+        res = self.client.exec_create(id, 'whoami', user='default')
+        self.assertIn('Id', res)
+
+        exec_log = self.client.exec_start(res)
+        expected = b'default' if six.PY3 else 'default\n'
+        self.assertEqual(exec_log, expected)
+
+
+@unittest.skipIf(not EXEC_DRIVER_IS_NATIVE, 'Exec driver not native')
+class TestExecuteCommandStringAsRoot(BaseTestCase):
+    def runTest(self):
+        container = self.client.create_container('busybox', 'cat',
+                                                 detach=True, stdin_open=True)
+        id = container['Id']
+        self.client.start(id)
+        self.tmp_containers.append(id)
+
+        res = self.client.exec_create(id, 'whoami')
+        self.assertIn('Id', res)
+
+        exec_log = self.client.exec_start(res)
+        expected = b'root' if six.PY3 else 'root\n'
+        self.assertEqual(exec_log, expected)
+
+
 @unittest.skipIf(not EXEC_DRIVER_IS_NATIVE, 'Exec driver not native')
 class TestExecuteCommandStreaming(BaseTestCase):
     def runTest(self):