diff --git a/service-script-guide.md b/service-script-guide.md
index 68ee7a684..22fb561e7 100644
--- a/service-script-guide.md
+++ b/service-script-guide.md
@@ -509,3 +509,9 @@ This is a sensible default for daemons that are happy with `0.0.0.0`,
 but lets the user specify something else, like `rc_need="net.wan"` if
 he needs it. The burden is on the user to determine the appropriate
 service whenever he changes the daemon's configuration file.
+
+# User services
+
+User services are ran as the user that starts them. A few things to note
+then, are that command_user shouldn't be set, runtime data (such as pidfiles
+and sockets) should be placed in XDG_RUNTIME_DIR.
diff --git a/sh/openrc-run.sh.in b/sh/openrc-run.sh.in
index caf78f12e..1dfdc559f 100644
--- a/sh/openrc-run.sh.in
+++ b/sh/openrc-run.sh.in
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ sourcex "@LIBEXECDIR@/sh/functions.sh"
 sourcex "@LIBEXECDIR@/sh/rc-functions.sh"
 case $RC_SYS in
 	PREFIX|SYSTEMD-NSPAWN) ;;
-	*) sourcex -e "@LIBEXECDIR@/sh/rc-cgroup.sh";;
+	*) yesno "$RC_USER_SERVICES" || sourcex -e "@LIBEXECDIR@/sh/rc-cgroup.sh";;
 esac
 
 # Support LiveCD foo
diff --git a/src/librc/librc-depend.c b/src/librc/librc-depend.c
index 72903c04d..4cd23b541 100644
--- a/src/librc/librc-depend.c
+++ b/src/librc/librc-depend.c
@@ -758,6 +758,12 @@ rc_deptree_update_needed(time_t *newest, char *file)
 	newer |= !deep_mtime_check(path, true, &mtime, file);
 	free(path);
 
+	if (rc_is_user()) {
+		xasprintf(&path, "%s/rc.conf", rc_usrconfdir());
+		newer |= !deep_mtime_check(path, true, &mtime, file);
+		free(path);
+	}
+
 	/* Some init scripts dependencies change depending on config files
 	 * outside of baselayout, like syslog-ng, so we check those too. */
 	xasprintf(&depconfig, "%s/depconfig", service_dir);
diff --git a/src/librc/librc-misc.c b/src/librc/librc-misc.c
index ab96f66eb..b1b9da46d 100644
--- a/src/librc/librc-misc.c
+++ b/src/librc/librc-misc.c
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ static RC_STRINGLIST *rc_config_kcl(RC_STRINGLIST *config)
 	return config;
 }
 
-static RC_STRINGLIST * rc_config_directory(RC_STRINGLIST *config, char *dir)
+static RC_STRINGLIST * rc_config_directory(RC_STRINGLIST *config, const char *dir)
 {
 	DIR *dp;
 	struct dirent *d;
@@ -383,28 +383,47 @@ _free_rc_conf(void)
 	rc_stringlist_free(rc_conf);
 }
 
+static void
+rc_conf_append(const char *file)
+{
+	RC_STRINGLIST *conf = rc_config_load(file);
+	TAILQ_CONCAT(rc_conf, conf, entries);
+	rc_stringlist_free(conf);
+}
+
 char *
 rc_conf_value(const char *setting)
 {
 	const char *sysconfdir = rc_sysconfdir();
+	const char *usrconfdir = rc_usrconfdir();
 	RC_STRING *s;
 	char *conf;
 
 	if (rc_conf)
 		return rc_config_value(rc_conf, setting);
 
-	xasprintf(&conf, "%s/%s", sysconfdir, "rc.conf");
-	rc_conf = rc_config_load(conf);
+	rc_conf = rc_stringlist_new();
 	atexit(_free_rc_conf);
 
+	/* Load user configurations first, as they should override
+	 * system wide configs. */
+	if (usrconfdir) {
+		xasprintf(&conf, "%s/%s", usrconfdir, "rc.conf");
+		rc_conf_append(conf);
+		free(conf);
+
+		xasprintf(&conf, "%s/%s", usrconfdir, "rc.conf.d");
+		rc_conf = rc_config_directory(rc_conf, conf);
+		free(conf);
+	}
+
+	xasprintf(&conf, "%s/%s", sysconfdir, "rc.conf");
+	rc_conf_append(sysconfdir);
 	free(conf);
 
 	/* Support old configs. */
-	if (exists(RC_CONF_OLD)) {
-		RC_STRINGLIST *old_conf = rc_config_load(RC_CONF_OLD);
-		TAILQ_CONCAT(rc_conf, old_conf, entries);
-		rc_stringlist_free(old_conf);
-	}
+	if (exists(RC_CONF_OLD))
+		rc_conf_append(RC_CONF_OLD);
 
 	xasprintf(&conf, "%s/%s", sysconfdir, "rc.conf.d");
 	rc_conf = rc_config_directory(rc_conf, conf);
diff --git a/src/librc/librc.c b/src/librc/librc.c
index f8a2ed39e..fb6069119 100644
--- a/src/librc/librc.c
+++ b/src/librc/librc.c
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 #include "librc.h"
 #include "misc.h"
 #include "rc.h"
+#include "einfo.h"
 #ifdef __FreeBSD__
 #  include <sys/sysctl.h>
 #endif
@@ -567,30 +568,106 @@ static const char * const scriptdirs[] = {
 #ifdef RC_PKG_PREFIX
 	RC_PKG_PREFIX "/etc",
 #endif
+	NULL, /* slot for userconf dir */
 	NULL
 };
 
+static struct {
+	bool set;
+	char *svcdir;
+	char *usrconfdir;
+	char *runleveldir;
+	char *scriptdirs[ARRAY_SIZE(scriptdirs)];
+} rc_dirs;
+
+static void
+free_rc_dirs(void)
+{
+	free(rc_dirs.runleveldir);
+	rc_dirs.runleveldir = NULL;
+	free(rc_dirs.svcdir);
+	rc_dirs.svcdir = NULL;
+	for (size_t i = 0; rc_dirs.scriptdirs[i]; i++)
+		free(rc_dirs.scriptdirs[i]);
+}
+
+static bool is_user = false;
+
+bool
+rc_is_user(void)
+{
+	return is_user;
+}
+
+void
+rc_set_user(void)
+{
+	char *env;
+	if (is_user)
+		return;
+
+	is_user = true;
+	rc_dirs.set = true;
+	setenv("RC_USER_SERVICES", "yes", true);
+
+	if ((env = getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME")))
+		xasprintf(&rc_dirs.scriptdirs[0], "%s/openrc", env);
+	else if ((env = getenv("HOME")))
+		xasprintf(&rc_dirs.scriptdirs[0], "%s/.config/openrc", env);
+	else
+		eerrorx("XDG_CONFIG_HOME and HOME unset");
+
+	rc_dirs.usrconfdir = rc_dirs.scriptdirs[0];
+
+	for (size_t i = 0; scriptdirs[i]; i++)
+		xasprintf(&rc_dirs.scriptdirs[i + 1], "%s/user.d", scriptdirs[i]);
+
+	xasprintf(&rc_dirs.runleveldir, "%s/runlevels", rc_dirs.scriptdirs[0]);
+
+	if (!(env = getenv("XDG_RUNTIME_DIR")))
+		eerrorx("XDG_RUNTIME_DIR unset."); /* FIXME: fallback to something else? */
+	xasprintf(&rc_dirs.svcdir, "%s/openrc", env);
+	atexit(free_rc_dirs);
+}
+
 const char * const *
 rc_scriptdirs(void)
 {
+	if (rc_dirs.set)
+		return (const char * const *) rc_dirs.scriptdirs;
 	return scriptdirs;
 }
 
 const char *
 rc_sysconfdir(void)
 {
+	if (is_user)
+		return RC_SYSCONFDIR "/user.d";
 	return RC_SYSCONFDIR;
 }
 
+const char *
+rc_usrconfdir(void)
+{
+	if (rc_dirs.set)
+		return rc_dirs.usrconfdir;
+
+	return NULL;
+}
+
 const char *
 rc_runleveldir(void)
 {
+	if (rc_dirs.set)
+		return rc_dirs.runleveldir;
 	return RC_RUNLEVELDIR;
 }
 
 const char *
 rc_svcdir(void)
 {
+	if (rc_dirs.set)
+		return rc_dirs.svcdir;
 	return RC_SVCDIR;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/librc/meson.build b/src/librc/meson.build
index c17588266..67c081fcd 100644
--- a/src/librc/meson.build
+++ b/src/librc/meson.build
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ librc = library('rc', librc_sources,
   dependencies: kvm_dep,
   include_directories : [incdir, einfo_incdir],
   link_depends : 'rc.map',
+  link_with : libeinfo,
   version : librc_version,
   install : true,
   install_dir : libdir)
diff --git a/src/librc/rc.h.in b/src/librc/rc.h.in
index a9c456e5d..81fe660b8 100644
--- a/src/librc/rc.h.in
+++ b/src/librc/rc.h.in
@@ -119,6 +119,12 @@ typedef TAILQ_HEAD(rc_stringlist, rc_string) RC_STRINGLIST;
 #define RC_LEVEL_SINGLE     "single"
 #define RC_LEVEL_SHUTDOWN   "shutdown"
 
+/*! Set user-wide paths for the rc_*dir functions. */
+void rc_set_user(void);
+
+/*! @return true if rc_set_user was called, false otherwise. */
+bool rc_is_user(void);
+
 /*! Sets the root prefix for all librc operations
  * it should be called before any other operation
  * @param root path to prefix */
@@ -134,6 +140,12 @@ const char * const *rc_scriptdirs(void);
  * @return Path to the system configuration directory */
 const char *rc_sysconfdir(void);
 
+/*! The user configuration directory is where rc.conf
+ * will be located for user-mode openrc. It is meant to
+ * override the system wide configs where applicable.
+ * @return Path to the user configuration directory, or NULL if in system mode */
+const char *rc_usrconfdir(void);
+
 /*! @return Path to runlevel directory */
 const char *rc_runleveldir(void);
 
diff --git a/src/mark_service/mark_service.c b/src/mark_service/mark_service.c
index e9239c04d..5011a35dd 100644
--- a/src/mark_service/mark_service.c
+++ b/src/mark_service/mark_service.c
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (service == NULL || *service == '\0')
 		eerrorx("%s: no service specified", applet);
 
+	if (rc_yesno(getenv("RC_USER_SERVICES")))
+		rc_set_user();
+
 	if (!strncmp(applet, "mark_", 5) &&
 	    (bit = lookup_service_state(applet + 5)))
 		ok = rc_service_mark(service, bit);
diff --git a/src/openrc-run/openrc-run.c b/src/openrc-run/openrc-run.c
index 748e1d8f9..78ad264f4 100644
--- a/src/openrc-run/openrc-run.c
+++ b/src/openrc-run/openrc-run.c
@@ -1099,6 +1099,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	char *path = NULL;
 	char *lnk = NULL;
 	char *dir, *save = NULL, *saveLnk = NULL;
+	const char *workingdir = "/";
 	char *pidstr = NULL;
 	size_t l = 0, ll;
 	const char *file;
@@ -1118,7 +1119,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
 
-	atexit(cleanup);
+	if (rc_yesno(getenv("RC_USER_SERVICES")))
+		rc_set_user();
 
 	/* We need to work out the real full path to our service.
 	 * This works fine, provided that we ONLY allow multiplexed services
@@ -1160,10 +1162,54 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (argc < 3)
 		usage(EXIT_FAILURE);
 
-	/* Change dir to / to ensure all init scripts don't use stuff in pwd */
-	if (chdir("/") == -1)
+	/* Ok, we are ready to go, so setup selinux if applicable */
+	selinux_setup(argv);
+
+	deps = true;
+
+	/* Punt the first arg as its our service name */
+	argc--;
+	argv++;
+
+	/* Right then, parse any options there may be */
+	while ((opt = getopt_long(argc, argv, getoptstring,
+		    longopts, (int *)0)) != -1)
+		switch (opt) {
+		case 'd':
+			setenv("RC_DEBUG", "YES", 1);
+			break;
+		case 'l':
+			exclusive_fd = atoi(optarg);
+			fcntl(exclusive_fd, F_SETFD,
+			    fcntl(exclusive_fd, F_GETFD, 0) | FD_CLOEXEC);
+			break;
+		case 's':
+			if (!(rc_service_state(service) & RC_SERVICE_STARTED))
+				exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+			break;
+		case 'S':
+			if (!(rc_service_state(service) & RC_SERVICE_STOPPED))
+				exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+			break;
+		case 'D':
+			deps = false;
+			break;
+		case 'Z':
+			dry_run = true;
+			break;
+		case_RC_COMMON_GETOPT
+		}
+
+	/* Change dir to / to ensure all init scripts don't use stuff in pwd
+	 * For user services, change to the user's HOME instead. */
+	if (rc_is_user() && !(workingdir = getenv("HOME")))
+		eerrorx("HOME is unset.");
+
+	if (chdir(workingdir) == -1)
 		eerror("chdir: %s", strerror(errno));
 
+	atexit(cleanup);
+
 	if ((runlevel = xstrdup(getenv("RC_RUNLEVEL"))) == NULL) {
 		env_filter();
 		env_config();
@@ -1207,44 +1253,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		eprefix(prefix);
 	}
 
-	/* Ok, we are ready to go, so setup selinux if applicable */
-	selinux_setup(argv);
-
-	deps = true;
-
-	/* Punt the first arg as its our service name */
-	argc--;
-	argv++;
-
-	/* Right then, parse any options there may be */
-	while ((opt = getopt_long(argc, argv, getoptstring,
-		    longopts, (int *)0)) != -1)
-		switch (opt) {
-		case 'd':
-			setenv("RC_DEBUG", "YES", 1);
-			break;
-		case 'l':
-			exclusive_fd = atoi(optarg);
-			fcntl(exclusive_fd, F_SETFD,
-			    fcntl(exclusive_fd, F_GETFD, 0) | FD_CLOEXEC);
-			break;
-		case 's':
-			if (!(rc_service_state(service) & RC_SERVICE_STARTED))
-				exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
-			break;
-		case 'S':
-			if (!(rc_service_state(service) & RC_SERVICE_STOPPED))
-				exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
-			break;
-		case 'D':
-			deps = false;
-			break;
-		case 'Z':
-			dry_run = true;
-			break;
-		case_RC_COMMON_GETOPT
-		}
-
 	if (rc_yesno(getenv("RC_NODEPS")))
 		deps = false;
 
diff --git a/src/openrc/rc.c b/src/openrc/rc.c
index bbe337b35..241906d49 100644
--- a/src/openrc/rc.c
+++ b/src/openrc/rc.c
@@ -772,7 +772,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	RC_STRING *service;
 	bool going_down = false;
 	int depoptions = RC_DEP_STRICT | RC_DEP_TRACE;
-	const char *svcdir = rc_svcdir();
+	const char *svcdir;
 	char *rc_starting, *rc_stopping;
 	char *deptree_skewed;
 	char *krunlevel = NULL;
@@ -796,7 +796,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	applet = basename_c(argv[0]);
 	LIST_INIT(&service_pids);
 	LIST_INIT(&free_these_pids);
-	atexit(cleanup);
 	if (!applet)
 		eerrorx("arguments required");
 
@@ -807,11 +806,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (chdir("/") == -1)
 		eerror("chdir: %s", strerror(errno));
 
-	/* Ensure our environment is pure
-	 * Also, add our configuration to it */
-	env_filter();
-	env_config();
-
 	/* complain about old configuration settings if they exist */
 	if (exists(RC_CONF_OLD)) {
 		ewarn("%s still exists on your system and should be removed.", RC_CONF_OLD);
@@ -859,6 +853,13 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		}
 	}
 
+	/* Ensure our environment is pure
+	 * Also, add our configuration to it */
+	env_filter();
+	env_config();
+
+	svcdir = rc_svcdir();
+
 	newlevel = argv[optind++];
 	/* To make life easier, we only have the shutdown runlevel as
 	 * nothing really needs to know that we're rebooting.
@@ -870,6 +871,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		}
 	}
 
+	atexit(cleanup);
+
 	/* Enable logging */
 	setenv("EINFO_LOG", "openrc", 1);
 
diff --git a/src/service/service.c b/src/service/service.c
index 2545a0229..6444d6802 100644
--- a/src/service/service.c
+++ b/src/service/service.c
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (service == NULL || *service == '\0')
 		eerrorx("%s: no service specified", applet);
 
+	if (rc_yesno(getenv("RC_USER_SERVICES")))
+		rc_set_user();
+
 	state = rc_service_state(service);
 	bit = lookup_service_state(applet);
 	if (bit) {
diff --git a/src/shared/_usage.h b/src/shared/_usage.h
index 91b956e06..c66b792e7 100644
--- a/src/shared/_usage.h
+++ b/src/shared/_usage.h
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@
 
 #include <getopt.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include "librc.h"
 
-#define getoptstring_COMMON "ChqVv"
+#define getoptstring_COMMON "ChqVvU"
 
 #define longopts_COMMON							      \
 	{ "help",           0, NULL, 'h'},				      \
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@
 	{ "version",        0, NULL, 'V'},				      \
 	{ "verbose",        0, NULL, 'v'},				      \
 	{ "quiet",          0, NULL, 'q'},				      \
+	{ "user",           0, NULL, 'U'},				      \
 	{ NULL,             0, NULL,  0 }
 
 #define longopts_help_COMMON						      \
@@ -28,13 +30,15 @@
 	"Disable color output",						      \
 	"Display software version",			              \
 	"Run verbosely",						      \
-	"Run quietly (repeat to suppress errors)"
+	"Run quietly (repeat to suppress errors)",         \
+	"Run in user mode"
 
 #define case_RC_COMMON_getopt_case_C  setenv ("EINFO_COLOR", "NO", 1);
 #define case_RC_COMMON_getopt_case_h  usage (EXIT_SUCCESS);
 #define case_RC_COMMON_getopt_case_V  if (argc == 2) show_version();
 #define case_RC_COMMON_getopt_case_v  setenv ("EINFO_VERBOSE", "YES", 1);
 #define case_RC_COMMON_getopt_case_q  set_quiet_options();
+#define case_RC_COMMON_getopt_case_U  rc_set_user();
 #define case_RC_COMMON_getopt_default usage (EXIT_FAILURE);
 
 #define case_RC_COMMON_GETOPT						      \
@@ -43,6 +47,7 @@
 	case 'V': case_RC_COMMON_getopt_case_V; break;			      \
 	case 'v': case_RC_COMMON_getopt_case_v; break;			      \
 	case 'q': case_RC_COMMON_getopt_case_q; break;			      \
+	case 'U': case_RC_COMMON_getopt_case_U; break;			      \
 	default:  case_RC_COMMON_getopt_default; break;
 
 extern const char *applet;
diff --git a/src/shared/misc.c b/src/shared/misc.c
index c5d387567..0e7f4e3bf 100644
--- a/src/shared/misc.c
+++ b/src/shared/misc.c
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ static const char *const env_whitelist[] = {
 	"RC_DEBUG", "RC_NODEPS",
 	"LANG", "LC_MESSAGES", "TERM",
 	"EINFO_COLOR", "EINFO_VERBOSE",
+	"RC_USER_SERVICES", "HOME",
+	"XDG_RUNTIME_DIR", "XDG_CONFIG_HOME",
 	NULL
 };
 
@@ -93,6 +95,15 @@ env_filter(void)
 	profile = rc_config_load(profile_path);
 	free(profile_path);
 
+	if (rc_is_user()) {
+		RC_STRINGLIST *usrprofile;
+		xasprintf(&profile_path, "%s/profile.env", rc_usrconfdir());
+		usrprofile = rc_config_load(profile_path);
+		free(profile_path);
+		TAILQ_CONCAT(profile, usrprofile, entries);
+		rc_stringlist_free(usrprofile);
+	}
+
 	/* Copy the env and work from this so we can manipulate it safely */
 	env_list = rc_stringlist_new();
 	while (environ && environ[i]) {
diff --git a/src/start-stop-daemon/start-stop-daemon.c b/src/start-stop-daemon/start-stop-daemon.c
index 5868dd377..d40042a6e 100644
--- a/src/start-stop-daemon/start-stop-daemon.c
+++ b/src/start-stop-daemon/start-stop-daemon.c
@@ -361,6 +361,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	signal_setup(SIGQUIT, handle_signal);
 	signal_setup(SIGTERM, handle_signal);
 
+	if (rc_yesno(getenv("RC_USER_SERVICES")))
+		rc_set_user();
+
 	openlog(applet, LOG_PID, LOG_DAEMON);
 
 	if ((tmp = getenv("SSD_NICELEVEL")))
diff --git a/src/supervise-daemon/supervise-daemon.c b/src/supervise-daemon/supervise-daemon.c
index ed60f5e46..f7d19a532 100644
--- a/src/supervise-daemon/supervise-daemon.c
+++ b/src/supervise-daemon/supervise-daemon.c
@@ -823,6 +823,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	svcname = getenv("RC_SVCNAME");
 	if (!svcname)
 		eerrorx("%s: The RC_SVCNAME environment variable is not set", applet);
+	if (rc_yesno(getenv("RC_USER_SERVICES")))
+		rc_set_user();
 	openlog(applet, LOG_PID, LOG_DAEMON);
 
 	if (argc <= 1 || strcmp(argv[1], svcname))
@@ -1085,7 +1087,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	umask(numask);
 	if (!pidfile)
-		xasprintf(&pidfile, "/var/run/supervise-%s.pid", svcname);
+		xasprintf(&pidfile, "%s/supervise-%s.pid", rc_is_user() ? getenv("XDG_RUNTIME_DIR") : "/var/run", svcname);
 	xasprintf(&fifopath, "%s/supervise-%s.ctl", rc_svcdir(), svcname);
 	if (mkfifo(fifopath, 0600) == -1 && errno != EEXIST)
 		eerrorx("%s: unable to create control fifo: %s",
diff --git a/src/value/value.c b/src/value/value.c
index e5190379d..c9620cf0c 100644
--- a/src/value/value.c
+++ b/src/value/value.c
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (service == NULL)
 		eerrorx("%s: no service specified", applet);
 
+	if (rc_yesno(getenv("RC_USER_SERVICES")))
+		rc_set_user();
+
 	if (argc < 2 || !argv[1] || *argv[1] == '\0')
 		eerrorx("%s: no option specified", applet);
 
diff --git a/user-guide.md b/user-guide.md
index 8547b893b..a60081402 100644
--- a/user-guide.md
+++ b/user-guide.md
@@ -176,3 +176,21 @@ OpenRC has wrappers for many common output tasks in libeinfo.
 This allows to print colour-coded status notices and other things.
 To make the output consistent the bundled service scripts all use ebegin/eend to 
 print nice messages.
+
+# User services
+
+OpenRC supports managing services for users.
+
+The init scripts are loaded from /etc/user.d/init.d, and
+${XDG_CONFIG_HOME}/openrc/init.d with ~/.config should XDG_CONFIG_HOME be unset.
+
+Configurations in ~/.config/openrc/conf.d should overwrite /etc/user.d/conf.d,
+and similarly options set in ~/.config/openrc/rc.conf overrides /etc/rc.conf.
+
+Runlevels are kept in ~/.config/openrc/runlevels.
+
+`openrc` and all `rc-*` tools provie a --user/-U flag to operate with user-mode
+services and runlevels.
+
+The XDG_RUNTIME_DIR variable must be set before calling openrc --user, as it's
+used to store state for openrc itself and the services it runs.