diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d1ee1c06838..b74287dfdf1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -113,6 +113,10 @@ install-generic:
 
 	cp -Ra dbicdh "$(DESTDIR)"/usr/share/openqa/dbicdh
 
+	install -d -m 755 "$(DESTDIR)"/usr/lib/sysusers.d/
+	install    -m 644 usr/lib/sysusers.d/openQA-worker.conf "$(DESTDIR)"/usr/lib/sysusers.d/
+	install    -m 644 usr/lib/sysusers.d/geekotest.conf "$(DESTDIR)"/usr/lib/sysusers.d/
+
 # Additional services which have a strong dependency on SUSE/openSUSE and do not
 # make sense for other distributions
 .PHONY: install-opensuse
diff --git a/dist/rpm/openQA-test.spec b/dist/rpm/openQA-test.spec
index c57e1fd2c99..d0667ddb0aa 100644
--- a/dist/rpm/openQA-test.spec
+++ b/dist/rpm/openQA-test.spec
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@ Summary:        Test package for openQA
 License:        GPL-2.0-or-later
 BuildRequires:  %{short_name} == %{version}
 BuildRequires:  openQA-local-db
+%if 0%{?suse_version} > 1500
+BuildRequires:  user(geekotest)
+%endif
 ExcludeArch:    i586
 
 %description
@@ -20,6 +23,7 @@ touch %{_sourcedir}/%{short_name}
 # call one of the components but not openqa itself which would need a valid
 # configuration
 /usr/share/openqa/script/initdb --help
+getent passwd geekotest
 
 %install
 # disable debug packages in package test to prevent error about missing files
diff --git a/dist/rpm/openQA-worker-test.spec b/dist/rpm/openQA-worker-test.spec
index 52115835a77..a0be844c908 100644
--- a/dist/rpm/openQA-worker-test.spec
+++ b/dist/rpm/openQA-worker-test.spec
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ Release:        0
 Summary:        Test package for %{short_name}
 License:        GPL-2.0-or-later
 BuildRequires:  %{short_name} == %{version}
+%if 0%{?suse_version} > 1500
+BuildRequires:  user(_openqa-worker)
+%endif
 ExcludeArch:    i586
 
 %description
@@ -17,6 +20,7 @@ touch %{_sourcedir}/%{short_name}
 
 %build
 /usr/share/openqa/script/worker --help
+getent passwd _openqa-worker
 
 %install
 # disable debug packages in package test to prevent error about missing files
diff --git a/dist/rpm/openQA.spec b/dist/rpm/openQA.spec
index 0b0fd9b0d24..99b30b4f830 100644
--- a/dist/rpm/openQA.spec
+++ b/dist/rpm/openQA.spec
@@ -124,6 +124,10 @@ BuildRequires:  %{test_requires}
 %if 0%{?suse_version} >= 1330
 Requires(pre):  group(nogroup)
 %endif
+%if 0%{?suse_version} > 1500
+BuildRequires:  sysuser-tools
+%sysusers_requires
+%endif
 
 %description
 openQA is a testing framework that allows you to test GUI applications on one
@@ -266,6 +270,10 @@ sed -e 's,/bin/env python,/bin/python,' -i script/openqa-label-all
 
 %build
 %make_build
+%if 0%{?suse_version} > 1500
+%sysusers_generate_pre usr/lib/sysusers.d/%{name}-worker.conf %{name}-worker %{name}-worker.conf
+%sysusers_generate_pre usr/lib/sysusers.d/geekotest.conf %{name} geekotest.conf
+%endif
 
 %check
 #for double checking
@@ -314,6 +322,11 @@ export LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8
 export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 %make_install
 
+%if 0%{?suse_version} <= 1500
+# we only use sysusers on Tumbleweed
+rm -rf %{buildroot}/%{_sysusersdir}
+%endif
+
 mkdir -p %{buildroot}%{_datadir}/openqa%{_sysconfdir}/openqa
 ln -s %{_sysconfdir}/openqa/openqa.ini %{buildroot}%{_datadir}/openqa%{_sysconfdir}/openqa/openqa.ini
 ln -s %{_sysconfdir}/openqa/database.ini %{buildroot}%{_datadir}/openqa%{_sysconfdir}/openqa/database.ini
@@ -349,11 +362,15 @@ mkdir %{buildroot}%{_localstatedir}/lib/openqa/webui/cache
 #
 %fdupes %{buildroot}/%{_prefix}
 
+%if 0%{?suse_version} > 1500
+%pre -f %{name}.pre
+%else
 %pre
 if ! getent passwd geekotest > /dev/null; then
     %{_sbindir}/useradd -r -g nogroup -c "openQA user" \
         -d %{_localstatedir}/lib/openqa geekotest 2>/dev/null || :
 fi
+%endif
 
 %service_add_pre %{openqa_services}
 
@@ -371,6 +388,9 @@ if [ "$1" = 1 ]; then
   fi
 fi
 
+%if 0%{?suse_version} > 1500
+%pre worker -f openQA-worker.pre
+%else
 %pre worker
 if ! getent passwd _openqa-worker > /dev/null; then
   %{_sbindir}/useradd -r -g nogroup -c "openQA worker" \
@@ -378,6 +398,7 @@ if ! getent passwd _openqa-worker > /dev/null; then
   # might fail for non-kvm workers (qemu package owns the group)
   %{_sbindir}/usermod _openqa-worker -a -G kvm || :
 fi
+%endif
 
 %service_add_pre %{openqa_worker_services}
 
@@ -547,6 +568,9 @@ fi
 %dir %{_localstatedir}/lib/openqa/share/factory/repo
 %dir %{_localstatedir}/lib/openqa/share/factory/other
 %ghost %{_localstatedir}/log/openqa
+%if 0%{?suse_version} > 1500
+%{_sysusersdir}/geekotest.conf
+%endif
 
 %files devel
 
@@ -611,6 +635,9 @@ fi
 %dir %{_localstatedir}/lib/openqa/cache
 # own one pool - to create the others is task of the admin
 %dir %{_localstatedir}/lib/openqa/pool/1
+%if 0%{?suse_version} > 1500
+%{_sysusersdir}/%{name}-worker.conf
+%endif
 
 %files client
 %dir %{_datadir}/openqa
diff --git a/usr/lib/sysusers.d/geekotest.conf b/usr/lib/sysusers.d/geekotest.conf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..017ba42fd58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/usr/lib/sysusers.d/geekotest.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Type Name       ID     GECOS           [HOME]    Shell
+u   geekotest   -     "openQA user" /var/lib/openqa  /bin/bash
+m   geekotest  nogroup
diff --git a/usr/lib/sysusers.d/openQA-worker.conf b/usr/lib/sysusers.d/openQA-worker.conf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a07ccfcd4f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/usr/lib/sysusers.d/openQA-worker.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# Type Name            ID     GECOS           [HOME]    Shell
+u   _openqa-worker   -     "openQA worker" /var/lib/empty  /bin/bash
+m   _openqa-worker  nogroup
+m   _openqa-worker  kvm