diff --git a/src/common.h b/src/common.h
index e9914483..c15e7406 100644
--- a/src/common.h
+++ b/src/common.h
@@ -69,7 +69,8 @@ enum {
     GETOPT_VAL_PASSWORD,
     GETOPT_VAL_KEY,
     GETOPT_VAL_MANAGER_ADDRESS,
-    GETOPT_VAL_EXECUTABLE
+    GETOPT_VAL_EXECUTABLE,
+    GETOPT_VAL_HOMEDIR,
 };
 
 #endif // _COMMON_H
diff --git a/src/jconf.c b/src/jconf.c
index 84e80f18..5bc8a6e8 100644
--- a/src/jconf.c
+++ b/src/jconf.c
@@ -328,6 +328,8 @@ read_jconf(const char *file)
                     value, json_boolean,
                     "invalid config file: option 'no_delay' must be a boolean");
                 conf.no_delay = value->u.boolean;
+            } else if (strcmp(name, "homedir") == 0) {
+                conf.homedir = to_string(value);
             }
         }
     } else {
diff --git a/src/jconf.h b/src/jconf.h
index 3c33e8c2..80d9dcc8 100644
--- a/src/jconf.h
+++ b/src/jconf.h
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ typedef struct {
     int mptcp;
     int ipv6_first;
     int no_delay;
+    char *homedir;
 } jconf_t;
 
 jconf_t *read_jconf(const char *file);
diff --git a/src/manager.c b/src/manager.c
index c60004e1..0caf9d9b 100644
--- a/src/manager.c
+++ b/src/manager.c
@@ -212,6 +212,11 @@ construct_command_line(struct manager_ctx *manager, struct server *server)
         int len = strlen(cmd);
         snprintf(cmd + len, BUF_SIZE - len, " -d \"%s\"", manager->nameservers);
     }
+    if (manager->homedir)
+    {
+        int len = strlen(cmd);
+        snprintf(cmd + len, BUF_SIZE - len, " -D \"%s\"", manager->homedir);
+    }
     for (i = 0; i < manager->host_num; i++) {
         int len = strlen(cmd);
         snprintf(cmd + len, BUF_SIZE - len, " -s %s", manager->hosts[i]);
@@ -856,6 +861,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     char *manager_address = NULL;
     char *plugin          = NULL;
     char *plugin_opts     = NULL;
+    char *homedir         = NULL;
 
     int fast_open  = 0;
     int no_delay   = 0;
@@ -888,6 +894,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
         { "plugin",          required_argument, NULL, GETOPT_VAL_PLUGIN      },
         { "plugin-opts",     required_argument, NULL, GETOPT_VAL_PLUGIN_OPTS },
         { "password",        required_argument, NULL, GETOPT_VAL_PASSWORD    },
+        { "homedir",         required_argument, NULL, GETOPT_VAL_HOMEDIR     },
         { "help",            no_argument,       NULL, GETOPT_VAL_HELP        },
         { NULL,                              0, NULL,                      0 }
     };
@@ -896,7 +903,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     USE_TTY();
 
-    while ((c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "f:s:l:k:t:m:c:i:d:a:n:6huUvA",
+    while ((c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "f:s:l:k:t:m:c:i:d:a:n:D:6huUvA",
                             long_options, NULL)) != -1)
         switch (c) {
         case GETOPT_VAL_REUSE_PORT:
@@ -966,6 +973,10 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
         case '6':
             ipv6first = 1;
             break;
+        case GETOPT_VAL_HOMEDIR:
+        case 'D':
+            homedir = optarg;
+            break;
         case 'v':
             verbose = 1;
             break;
@@ -1039,6 +1050,10 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
         if (ipv6first == 0) {
             ipv6first = conf->ipv6_first;
         }
+        if (homedir == NULL)
+        {
+            homedir = conf->homedir;
+        }
 #ifdef HAVE_SETRLIMIT
         if (nofile == 0) {
             nofile = conf->nofile;
@@ -1119,6 +1134,7 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     manager.plugin          = plugin;
     manager.plugin_opts     = plugin_opts;
     manager.ipv6first       = ipv6first;
+    manager.homedir         = homedir;
 #ifdef HAVE_SETRLIMIT
     manager.nofile = nofile;
 #endif
@@ -1126,17 +1142,26 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     // initialize ev loop
     struct ev_loop *loop = EV_DEFAULT;
 
+#ifndef __MINGW32__
+    // setuid
+    if (user != NULL && !run_as(user)) {
+        FATAL("failed to switch user");
+    }
+
     if (geteuid() == 0) {
         LOGI("running from root user");
     }
+#endif
 
     struct passwd *pw   = getpwuid(getuid());
-    const char *homedir = pw->pw_dir;
 
-    if (homedir == NULL || strlen(homedir) == 0)
-    {
-        // if home dir not defined, fall back to /tmp
-        homedir = "/tmp";
+    if (homedir == NULL || strlen(homedir) == 0) {
+        homedir = pw->pw_dir;
+        // If home dir is still not defined or set to nologin/nonexistent, fall back to /tmp
+        if (strstr(homedir, "nologin") || strstr(homedir, "nonexistent") || homedir == NULL || strlen(homedir) == 0) {
+            homedir = "/tmp";
+        }
+        LOGI("File path changed to %s", homedir);
     }
     working_dir_size = strlen(homedir) + 15;
     working_dir      = ss_malloc(working_dir_size);
diff --git a/src/manager.h b/src/manager.h
index 2c7c3fcc..f07144fb 100644
--- a/src/manager.h
+++ b/src/manager.h
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ struct manager_ctx {
     char *nameservers;
     int mtu;
     int ipv6first;
+    char *homedir;
 #ifdef HAVE_SETRLIMIT
     int nofile;
 #endif
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ struct server {
     char *method;
     char *plugin;
     char *plugin_opts;
+    char *homedir;
     uint64_t traffic;
 };