diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/vcsrepo.rb b/lib/puppet/type/vcsrepo.rb
index 352f439c..4fab79e3 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/vcsrepo.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/vcsrepo.rb
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ def retrieve
 
   newparam :user do
     desc "The user to run for repository operations"
+    defaultto 'root'
   end
 
   newparam :excludes do