diff --git a/cli-runopts.c b/cli-runopts.c
index 5f36f7c..8c9bc8e 100644
--- a/cli-runopts.c
+++ b/cli-runopts.c
@@ -684,7 +684,7 @@ static void fill_own_user() {
 
 	pw = getpwuid(uid);
 	if (pw == NULL || pw->pw_name == NULL) {
-		dropbear_exit("Unknown own user");
+		dropbear_log(LOG_INFO, "Warning: failed to identify current user. Trying anyway.");
 	}
 
 	cli_opts.own_user = m_strdup(pw->pw_name);