diff --git a/src/core/unit-printf.c b/src/core/unit-printf.c
index c8896c41e2..e61e0d1475 100644
--- a/src/core/unit-printf.c
+++ b/src/core/unit-printf.c
@@ -158,46 +158,6 @@ static int specifier_special_directory(char specifier, void *data, void *userdat
         return 0;
 }
 
-static int specifier_user_name(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret) {
-        char *t;
-
-        /* If we are UID 0 (root), this will not result in NSS,
-         * otherwise it might. This is good, as we want to be able to
-         * run this in PID 1, where our user ID is 0, but where NSS
-         * lookups are not allowed. */
-
-        t = getusername_malloc();
-        if (!t)
-                return -ENOMEM;
-
-        *ret = t;
-        return 0;
-}
-
-static int specifier_user_id(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret) {
-
-        if (asprintf(ret, UID_FMT, getuid()) < 0)
-                return -ENOMEM;
-
-        return 0;
-}
-
-static int specifier_user_home(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret) {
-
-        /* On PID 1 (which runs as root) this will not result in NSS,
-         * which is good. See above */
-
-        return get_home_dir(ret);
-}
-
-static int specifier_user_shell(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret) {
-
-        /* On PID 1 (which runs as root) this will not result in NSS,
-         * which is good. See above */
-
-        return get_shell(ret);
-}
-
 int unit_name_printf(Unit *u, const char* format, char **ret) {
 
         /*
diff --git a/src/shared/install-printf.c b/src/shared/install-printf.c
index f8d0e53eca..aaab2e6665 100644
--- a/src/shared/install-printf.c
+++ b/src/shared/install-printf.c
@@ -103,34 +103,6 @@ static int specifier_instance(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char *
         return 0;
 }
 
-static int specifier_user_name(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret) {
-        char *t;
-
-        /* If we are UID 0 (root), this will not result in NSS,
-         * otherwise it might. This is good, as we want to be able to
-         * run this in PID 1, where our user ID is 0, but where NSS
-         * lookups are not allowed.
-
-         * We don't user getusername_malloc() here, because we don't want to look
-         * at $USER, to remain consistent with specifer_user_id() below.
-         */
-
-        t = uid_to_name(getuid());
-        if (!t)
-                return -ENOMEM;
-
-        *ret = t;
-        return 0;
-}
-
-static int specifier_user_id(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret) {
-
-        if (asprintf(ret, UID_FMT, getuid()) < 0)
-                return -ENOMEM;
-
-        return 0;
-}
-
 int install_full_printf(UnitFileInstallInfo *i, const char *format, char **ret) {
 
         /* This is similar to unit_full_printf() but does not support
diff --git a/src/shared/specifier.c b/src/shared/specifier.c
index dc7be0a993..9bef890346 100644
--- a/src/shared/specifier.c
+++ b/src/shared/specifier.c
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include "specifier.h"
 #include "string-util.h"
 #include "strv.h"
+#include "user-util.h"
 
 /*
  * Generic infrastructure for replacing %x style specifiers in
@@ -193,6 +194,48 @@ int specifier_kernel_release(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **
         return 0;
 }
 
+int specifier_user_name(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret) {
+        char *t;
+
+        /* If we are UID 0 (root), this will not result in NSS, otherwise it might. This is good, as we want to be able
+         * to run this in PID 1, where our user ID is 0, but where NSS lookups are not allowed.
+
+         * We don't user getusername_malloc() here, because we don't want to look at $USER, to remain consistent with
+         * specifer_user_id() below.
+         */
+
+        t = uid_to_name(getuid());
+        if (!t)
+                return -ENOMEM;
+
+        *ret = t;
+        return 0;
+}
+
+int specifier_user_id(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret) {
+
+        if (asprintf(ret, UID_FMT, getuid()) < 0)
+                return -ENOMEM;
+
+        return 0;
+}
+
+int specifier_user_home(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret) {
+
+        /* On PID 1 (which runs as root) this will not result in NSS,
+         * which is good. See above */
+
+        return get_home_dir(ret);
+}
+
+int specifier_user_shell(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret) {
+
+        /* On PID 1 (which runs as root) this will not result in NSS,
+         * which is good. See above */
+
+        return get_shell(ret);
+}
+
 int specifier_escape_strv(char **l, char ***ret) {
         char **z, **p, **q;
 
diff --git a/src/shared/specifier.h b/src/shared/specifier.h
index 0401e13e50..bd6bc55577 100644
--- a/src/shared/specifier.h
+++ b/src/shared/specifier.h
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ int specifier_boot_id(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret);
 int specifier_host_name(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret);
 int specifier_kernel_release(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret);
 
+int specifier_user_name(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret);
+int specifier_user_id(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret);
+int specifier_user_home(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret);
+int specifier_user_shell(char specifier, void *data, void *userdata, char **ret);
+
 static inline char* specifier_escape(const char *string) {
         return strreplace(string, "%", "%%");
 }
diff --git a/src/test/test-unit-name.c b/src/test/test-unit-name.c
index 013e87e73b..e24892b590 100644
--- a/src/test/test-unit-name.c
+++ b/src/test/test-unit-name.c
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ static int test_unit_printf(void) {
         assert_se(specifier_machine_id('m', NULL, NULL, &mid) >= 0 && mid);
         assert_se(specifier_boot_id('b', NULL, NULL, &bid) >= 0 && bid);
         assert_se(host = gethostname_malloc());
-        assert_se(user = getusername_malloc());
+        assert_se(user = uid_to_name(getuid()));
         assert_se(asprintf(&uid, UID_FMT, getuid()));
         assert_se(get_home_dir(&home) >= 0);
         assert_se(get_shell(&shell) >= 0);