diff --git a/pkg/common/salt-master.service b/pkg/common/salt-master.service
index 257ecc283fe..377c87afeb9 100644
--- a/pkg/common/salt-master.service
+++ b/pkg/common/salt-master.service
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ LimitNOFILE=100000
 Type=notify
 NotifyAccess=all
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/salt-master
-User=salt
 
 [Install]
 WantedBy=multi-user.target
diff --git a/pkg/old/deb/salt-master.service b/pkg/old/deb/salt-master.service
index f9dca296b4a..b5d0cdd22cd 100644
--- a/pkg/old/deb/salt-master.service
+++ b/pkg/old/deb/salt-master.service
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ LimitNOFILE=16384
 Type=notify
 NotifyAccess=all
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/salt-master
-User=salt
 
 [Install]
 WantedBy=multi-user.target
diff --git a/pkg/old/suse/salt-master.service b/pkg/old/suse/salt-master.service
index caabca511c9..9e002d16cae 100644
--- a/pkg/old/suse/salt-master.service
+++ b/pkg/old/suse/salt-master.service
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ LimitNOFILE=100000
 Type=simple
 ExecStart=/usr/bin/salt-master
 TasksMax=infinity
-User=salt
 
 [Install]
 WantedBy=multi-user.target
diff --git a/salt/cli/daemons.py b/salt/cli/daemons.py
index c9ee9ced918..ecc05c919ef 100644
--- a/salt/cli/daemons.py
+++ b/salt/cli/daemons.py
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 import os
 import warnings
 
-import salt.defaults.exitcodes
 import salt.utils.kinds as kinds
 from salt.exceptions import SaltClientError, SaltSystemExit, get_error_message
 from salt.utils import migrations
@@ -74,16 +73,6 @@ def verify_hash_type(self):
                 self.__class__.__name__,
             )
 
-    def verify_user(self):
-        """
-        Verify Salt configured user for Salt and shutdown daemon if not valid.
-
-        :return:
-        """
-        if not check_user(self.config["user"]):
-            self.action_log_info("Cannot switch to configured user for Salt. Exiting")
-            self.shutdown(salt.defaults.exitcodes.EX_NOUSER)
-
     def action_log_info(self, action):
         """
         Say daemon starting.
@@ -189,10 +178,6 @@ def prepare(self):
         self.config["interface"] = ip_bracket(self.config["interface"])
         migrations.migrate_paths(self.config)
 
-        # Ensure configured user is valid and environment is properly set
-        # before initializating rest of the stack.
-        self.verify_user()
-
         # Late import so logging works correctly
         import salt.master
 
@@ -305,10 +290,6 @@ def prepare(self):
 
         transport = self.config.get("transport").lower()
 
-        # Ensure configured user is valid and environment is properly set
-        # before initializating rest of the stack.
-        self.verify_user()
-
         try:
             # Late import so logging works correctly
             import salt.minion
@@ -497,10 +478,6 @@ def prepare(self):
             self.action_log_info("An instance is already running. Exiting")
             self.shutdown(1)
 
-        # Ensure configured user is valid and environment is properly set
-        # before initializating rest of the stack.
-        self.verify_user()
-
         # TODO: AIO core is separate from transport
         # Late import so logging works correctly
         import salt.minion
@@ -599,10 +576,6 @@ def prepare(self):
 
         self.action_log_info('Setting up "{}"'.format(self.config["id"]))
 
-        # Ensure configured user is valid and environment is properly set
-        # before initializating rest of the stack.
-        self.verify_user()
-
         # Late import so logging works correctly
         import salt.minion
 
diff --git a/salt/cli/ssh.py b/salt/cli/ssh.py
index 672f32b8c08..6048cb5f58f 100644
--- a/salt/cli/ssh.py
+++ b/salt/cli/ssh.py
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 import sys
 
 import salt.client.ssh
-import salt.defaults.exitcodes
 import salt.utils.parsers
-from salt.utils.verify import check_user
 
 
 class SaltSSH(salt.utils.parsers.SaltSSHOptionParser):
@@ -17,11 +15,5 @@ def run(self):
             # that won't be used anyways with -H or --hosts
         self.parse_args()
 
-        if not check_user(self.config["user"]):
-            self.exit(
-                salt.defaults.exitcodes.EX_NOUSER,
-                "Cannot switch to configured user for Salt. Exiting",
-            )
-
         ssh = salt.client.ssh.SSH(self.config)
         ssh.run()
diff --git a/salt/utils/verify.py b/salt/utils/verify.py
index 7899fbe5385..879128f2312 100644
--- a/salt/utils/verify.py
+++ b/salt/utils/verify.py
@@ -335,8 +335,8 @@ def check_user(user):
 
         # We could just reset the whole environment but let's just override
         # the variables we can get from pwuser
-        # We ensure HOME is always present and set according to pwuser
-        os.environ["HOME"] = pwuser.pw_dir
+        if "HOME" in os.environ:
+            os.environ["HOME"] = pwuser.pw_dir
 
         if "SHELL" in os.environ:
             os.environ["SHELL"] = pwuser.pw_shell
diff --git a/tests/pytests/integration/cli/test_salt_minion.py b/tests/pytests/integration/cli/test_salt_minion.py
index bde2dd51d7c..c0d60134746 100644
--- a/tests/pytests/integration/cli/test_salt_minion.py
+++ b/tests/pytests/integration/cli/test_salt_minion.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ def test_exit_status_unknown_user(salt_master, minion_id):
         factory = salt_master.salt_minion_daemon(
             minion_id, overrides={"user": "unknown-user"}
         )
-        factory.start(start_timeout=30, max_start_attempts=1)
+        factory.start(start_timeout=10, max_start_attempts=1)
 
     assert exc.value.process_result.returncode == salt.defaults.exitcodes.EX_NOUSER
     assert "The user is not available." in exc.value.process_result.stderr
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def test_exit_status_unknown_argument(salt_master, minion_id):
     """
     with pytest.raises(FactoryNotStarted) as exc:
         factory = salt_master.salt_minion_daemon(minion_id)
-        factory.start("--unknown-argument", start_timeout=30, max_start_attempts=1)
+        factory.start("--unknown-argument", start_timeout=10, max_start_attempts=1)
 
     assert exc.value.process_result.returncode == salt.defaults.exitcodes.EX_USAGE
     assert "Usage" in exc.value.process_result.stderr