diff --git a/defaults/main.yml b/defaults/main.yml
index 928e32f0..adb9fe84 100644
--- a/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/defaults/main.yml
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ rabbitmq_host_group: "rabbitmq_all"
 # The local address used for the rabbitmq cluster node
 rabbitmq_node_address: "{{ ansible_host }}"
 
+rabbit_system_user_name: rabbitmq
+rabbit_system_group_name: rabbitmq
+
 # Hosts file entries (set this to an empty list to disable /etc/hosts generation
 # for the rabbitmq cluster nodes)
 rabbitmq_hosts_entries: >-
diff --git a/tasks/rabbitmq_post_install.yml b/tasks/rabbitmq_post_install.yml
index a40d8fdf..45da1685 100644
--- a/tasks/rabbitmq_post_install.yml
+++ b/tasks/rabbitmq_post_install.yml
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@
   template:
     src: "{{ item.src }}"
     dest: "{{ item.dest }}"
+    owner: "{{ rabbit_system_user_name }}"
+    group: "{{ rabbit_system_group_name }}"
   with_items:
     - { src: "rabbitmq.config.j2", dest: "/etc/rabbitmq/rabbitmq.config" }
     - { src: "rabbitmq-server.j2", dest: "/etc/default/rabbitmq-server" }
diff --git a/tasks/rabbitmq_pre_install.yml b/tasks/rabbitmq_pre_install.yml
index 22bb49ef..393dc6a2 100644
--- a/tasks/rabbitmq_pre_install.yml
+++ b/tasks/rabbitmq_pre_install.yml
@@ -48,12 +48,28 @@
   tags:
     - rabbitmq-config
 
+- name: Create the system group
+  group:
+    name: "{{ rabbit_system_group_name }}"
+    state: "present"
+    system: "yes"
+
+- name: Create the rabbit system user
+  user:
+    name: "{{ rabbit_system_user_name }}"
+    group: "{{ rabbit_system_group_name }}"
+    comment: "RabbitMQ messaging server"
+    shell: "/bin/false"
+    system: "yes"
+    createhome: "yes"
+    home: "/var/lib/rabbitmq"
+
 - name: Create the local directories
   file:
     path: "/etc/rabbitmq/"
     state: "directory"
-    group: "root"
-    owner: "root"
+    group: "{{ rabbit_system_user_name }}"
+    owner: "{{ rabbit_system_group_name }}"
     mode: "0755"
   tags:
     - rabbitmq-config
diff --git a/templates/rabbitmq-server.service.j2 b/templates/rabbitmq-server.service.j2
index 3da3689d..603403f2 100644
--- a/templates/rabbitmq-server.service.j2
+++ b/templates/rabbitmq-server.service.j2
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ Conflicts=epmd.service
 
 [Service]
 Type=notify
-User=rabbitmq
-Group=rabbitmq
+User={{ rabbit_system_user_name }}
+Group={{ rabbit_system_group_name }}
 LimitNOFILE=65535
 NotifyAccess=all
 WorkingDirectory=/var/lib/rabbitmq
diff --git a/vars/redhat.yml b/vars/redhat.yml
index 4d3946d0..18fea72f 100644
--- a/vars/redhat.yml
+++ b/vars/redhat.yml
@@ -31,5 +31,5 @@ _rabbitmq_erlang_repo:
   filename: els-erlang
 
 rabbitmq_distro_packages:
-  - erlang-22.3-1.el7.x86_64
-  - "rabbitmq-server-{{ rabbitmq_package_version }}.el7.noarch"
+  - "erlang-22.3-1.el{{ ansible_distribution_major_version }}.x86_64"
+  - "rabbitmq-server-{{ rabbitmq_package_version }}.el{{ ansible_distribution_major_version }}.noarch"