diff --git a/common/configure_fresh_system b/common/configure_fresh_system
index 806deff3..9b7f0007 100755
--- a/common/configure_fresh_system
+++ b/common/configure_fresh_system
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
 set -e
+set -v
 echo
 echo "configuring settings common among OSes"
 sudo true
@@ -119,6 +120,10 @@ sudo npm install -g diff-so-fancy
 echo "installing vdirsyncer"
 sudo pip install vdirsyncer
 
+if [[ -z $USER ]]; then
+    USER=`whoami`
+fi
+
 # normalize npm permissions
 mkdir -p $HOME/.npm
 sudo chown $USER $HOME/.npm -R