diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
index 0fbfa96205c..39a9c66471f 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/configure-helper.sh
@@ -445,9 +445,6 @@ function mount-master-pd {
   mkdir -p "${mount_point}/srv/sshproxy"
   ln -s -f "${mount_point}/srv/sshproxy" /etc/srv/sshproxy
 
-  if ! id etcd &>/dev/null; then
-    useradd -s /sbin/nologin -d /var/etcd etcd
-  fi
   chown -R etcd "${mount_point}/var/etcd"
   chgrp -R etcd "${mount_point}/var/etcd"
 }
diff --git a/cluster/gce/gci/master.yaml b/cluster/gce/gci/master.yaml
index fd0a88d081d..6fd8f876e19 100644
--- a/cluster/gce/gci/master.yaml
+++ b/cluster/gce/gci/master.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 #cloud-config
 
+users:
+- name: etcd
+  homedir: /var/etcd
+  lock_passwd: true
+  ssh_redirect_user: true
+
 write_files:
   - path: /etc/systemd/system/kube-master-installation.service
     permissions: 0644