diff --git a/src/main/java/com/github/dockerjava/api/command/ExecCreateCmd.java b/src/main/java/com/github/dockerjava/api/command/ExecCreateCmd.java
index fe2329290..829ebf8ee 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/github/dockerjava/api/command/ExecCreateCmd.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/github/dockerjava/api/command/ExecCreateCmd.java
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ public interface ExecCreateCmd extends SyncDockerCmd<ExecCreateCmdResponse> {
     @CheckForNull
     Boolean hasTtyEnabled();
 
+    @CheckForNull
+    String getUser();
+
     ExecCreateCmd withAttachStderr(Boolean attachStderr);
 
     ExecCreateCmd withAttachStdin(Boolean attachStdin);
@@ -32,6 +35,8 @@ public interface ExecCreateCmd extends SyncDockerCmd<ExecCreateCmdResponse> {
 
     ExecCreateCmd withTty(Boolean tty);
 
+    ExecCreateCmd withUser(String user);
+
     interface Exec extends DockerCmdSyncExec<ExecCreateCmd, ExecCreateCmdResponse> {
     }
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/github/dockerjava/core/command/ExecCreateCmdImpl.java b/src/main/java/com/github/dockerjava/core/command/ExecCreateCmdImpl.java
index 14da4626a..fc8bf1c0b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/github/dockerjava/core/command/ExecCreateCmdImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/github/dockerjava/core/command/ExecCreateCmdImpl.java
@@ -26,6 +26,12 @@ public class ExecCreateCmdImpl extends AbstrDockerCmd<ExecCreateCmd, ExecCreateC
     @JsonProperty("Tty")
     private Boolean tty;
 
+    /**
+     * @since {@link RemoteApiVersion#VERSION_1_19}
+     */
+    @JsonProperty("User")
+    private String user;
+
     @JsonProperty("Cmd")
     private String[] cmd;
 
@@ -65,6 +71,12 @@ public ExecCreateCmd withTty(Boolean tty) {
         return this;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public ExecCreateCmd withUser(String user) {
+        this.user = user;
+        return this;
+    }
+
     @Override
     public ExecCreateCmd withCmd(String... cmd) {
         this.cmd = cmd;
@@ -96,6 +108,11 @@ public Boolean hasTtyEnabled() {
         return tty;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public String getUser() {
+        return user;
+    }
+
     /**
      * @throws NotFoundException
      *             No such container
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/github/dockerjava/core/command/ExecCreateCmdImplTest.java b/src/test/java/com/github/dockerjava/core/command/ExecCreateCmdImplTest.java
index 139c81f56..d8e3326d5 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/github/dockerjava/core/command/ExecCreateCmdImplTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/github/dockerjava/core/command/ExecCreateCmdImplTest.java
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ public void afterMethod(ITestResult result) {
     public void execCreateTest() {
         String containerName = "generated_" + new SecureRandom().nextInt();
 
-        CreateContainerResponse container = dockerClient.createContainerCmd("busybox").withCmd("top")
+        CreateContainerResponse container = dockerClient.createContainerCmd("busybox").withUser("root").withCmd("top")
                 .withName(containerName).exec();
 
         LOG.info("Created container {}", container.toString());
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/github/dockerjava/core/command/ExecStartCmdImplTest.java b/src/test/java/com/github/dockerjava/core/command/ExecStartCmdImplTest.java
index c4f0b9189..8ae9e5a91 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/github/dockerjava/core/command/ExecStartCmdImplTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/github/dockerjava/core/command/ExecStartCmdImplTest.java
@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
 package com.github.dockerjava.core.command;
 
-import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
-import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.isEmptyString;
-import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.not;
-
+import com.github.dockerjava.api.command.CreateContainerResponse;
+import com.github.dockerjava.api.command.ExecCreateCmdResponse;
+import com.github.dockerjava.api.exception.NotFoundException;
+import com.github.dockerjava.client.AbstractDockerClientTest;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.lang.reflect.Method;
 import java.security.SecureRandom;
-
+import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.isEmptyString;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.not;
 import org.testng.ITestResult;
 import org.testng.annotations.AfterMethod;
 import org.testng.annotations.AfterTest;
@@ -15,10 +17,6 @@
 import org.testng.annotations.BeforeTest;
 import org.testng.annotations.Test;
 
-import com.github.dockerjava.api.command.CreateContainerResponse;
-import com.github.dockerjava.api.command.ExecCreateCmdResponse;
-import com.github.dockerjava.client.AbstractDockerClientTest;
-
 @Test(groups = "integration")
 public class ExecStartCmdImplTest extends AbstractDockerClientTest {
     @BeforeTest
@@ -53,7 +51,7 @@ public void execStart() throws Exception {
         dockerClient.startContainerCmd(container.getId()).exec();
 
         ExecCreateCmdResponse execCreateCmdResponse = dockerClient.execCreateCmd(container.getId())
-                .withAttachStdout(true).withCmd("touch", "/execStartTest.log").exec();
+                .withAttachStdout(true).withCmd("touch", "/execStartTest.log").withUser("root").exec();
         dockerClient.execStartCmd(execCreateCmdResponse.getId()).exec(
                 new ExecStartResultCallback(System.out, System.err)).awaitCompletion();
 
@@ -92,4 +90,23 @@ public void execStartAttached() throws Exception {
         assertNotNull(responseAsString);
         assertTrue(responseAsString.length() > 0);
     }
+    
+    @Test(groups = "ignoreInCircleCi", expectedExceptions = NotFoundException.class)
+    public void execStartWithNonExistentUser() throws Exception {
+        String containerName = "generated_" + new SecureRandom().nextInt();
+
+        CreateContainerResponse container = dockerClient.createContainerCmd("busybox").withCmd("sleep", "9999")
+                .withName(containerName).exec();
+        LOG.info("Created container {}", container.toString());
+        assertThat(container.getId(), not(isEmptyString()));
+
+        dockerClient.startContainerCmd(container.getId()).exec();
+
+        ExecCreateCmdResponse execCreateCmdResponse = dockerClient.execCreateCmd(container.getId())
+                .withAttachStdout(true).withCmd("touch", "/execStartTest.log").withUser("NonExistentUser").exec();
+        dockerClient.execStartCmd(execCreateCmdResponse.getId()).withDetach(false).withTty(true)
+                .exec(new ExecStartResultCallback(System.out, System.err)).awaitCompletion();
+
+        dockerClient.copyArchiveFromContainerCmd(container.getId(), "/execStartTest.log").exec();
+    }
 }