diff --git a/roles/nginx/templates/nginx.conf.j2 b/roles/nginx/templates/nginx.conf.j2
index 0f3acd7..f9d5b33 100644
--- a/roles/nginx/templates/nginx.conf.j2
+++ b/roles/nginx/templates/nginx.conf.j2
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 
 # Run as a unique, less privileged user for security reasons.
-user  nginx;
+{% if ansible_distribution == 'Debian' and ansible_distribution_major_version | version_compare('9', '==') %}
+user  www-data;
+{% else %}
+user nginx;
+{% endif %}
 
 # Sets the worker threads to the number of CPU cores available in the system for best performance.
 # Should be > the number of CPU cores.