diff --git a/pkg/util/command_util.go b/pkg/util/command_util.go
index 448a59236..f71459171 100644
--- a/pkg/util/command_util.go
+++ b/pkg/util/command_util.go
@@ -387,41 +387,48 @@ func getUIDAndGID(userStr string, groupStr string, fallbackToUID bool) (uint32,
 		return 0, 0, err
 	}
 
-	gid, err := getGIDFromName(groupStr, fallbackToUID)
-	if err != nil {
-		if errors.Is(err, fallbackToUIDError) {
-			return uid32, uid32, nil
+	if groupStr != "" {
+		gid32, err := getGIDFromName(groupStr)
+		if err != nil {
+			if errors.Is(err, fallbackToUIDError) {
+				return uid32, uid32, nil
+			}
+			return 0, 0, err
 		}
-		return 0, 0, err
+		return uid32, gid32, nil
 	}
-	return uid32, gid, nil
+
+	if fallbackToUID {
+		return uid32, uid32, nil
+	}
+
+	return uid32, 0, nil
 }
 
-// getGID tries to parse the gid or falls back to getGroupFromName if it's not an id
-func getGID(groupStr string, fallbackToUID bool) (uint32, error) {
+// getGID tries to parse the gid
+func getGID(groupStr string) (uint32, error) {
 	gid, err := strconv.ParseUint(groupStr, 10, 32)
 	if err != nil {
-		return 0, fallbackToUIDOrError(err, fallbackToUID)
+		return 0, err
 	}
 	return uint32(gid), nil
 }
 
 // getGIDFromName tries to parse the groupStr into an existing group.
-// if the group doesn't exist, fallback to getGID to parse non-existing valid GIDs.
-func getGIDFromName(groupStr string, fallbackToUID bool) (uint32, error) {
+func getGIDFromName(groupStr string) (uint32, error) {
 	group, err := user.LookupGroup(groupStr)
 	if err != nil {
 		// unknown group error could relate to a non existing group
-		var groupErr *user.UnknownGroupError
-		if errors.Is(err, groupErr) {
-			return getGID(groupStr, fallbackToUID)
+		var groupErr user.UnknownGroupError
+		if errors.As(err, &groupErr) {
+			return getGID(groupStr)
 		}
 		group, err = user.LookupGroupId(groupStr)
 		if err != nil {
-			return getGID(groupStr, fallbackToUID)
+			return getGID(groupStr)
 		}
 	}
-	return getGID(group.Gid, fallbackToUID)
+	return getGID(group.Gid)
 }
 
 var fallbackToUIDError = new(fallbackToUIDErrorType)
@@ -432,13 +439,6 @@ func (e fallbackToUIDErrorType) Error() string {
 	return "fallback to uid"
 }
 
-func fallbackToUIDOrError(err error, fallbackToUID bool) error {
-	if fallbackToUID {
-		return fallbackToUIDError
-	}
-	return err
-}
-
 // LookupUser will try to lookup the userStr inside the passwd file.
 // If the user does not exists, the function will fallback to parsing the userStr as an uid.
 func LookupUser(userStr string) (*user.User, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/util/command_util_test.go b/pkg/util/command_util_test.go
index 3d8384771..f811f5138 100644
--- a/pkg/util/command_util_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/command_util_test.go
@@ -705,7 +705,7 @@ func Test_GetUIDAndGIDFromString(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			expected: expected{
 				userID:  1001,
-				groupID: uint32(currentUserGID),
+				groupID: expectedCurrentUser.groupID,
 			},
 		},
 		{
@@ -714,15 +714,13 @@ func Test_GetUIDAndGIDFromString(t *testing.T) {
 				userGroupStr:  fmt.Sprintf("%d:%s", 1001, "hello-world-group"),
 				fallbackToUID: true,
 			},
-			expected: expected{
-				userID:  1001,
-				groupID: 1001,
-			},
+			wantErr: true,
 		},
 		{
-			testname: "uid and non existing group-name",
+			testname: "uid and non existing group-name without fallbackToUID",
 			args: args{
-				userGroupStr: fmt.Sprintf("%d:%s", 1001, "hello-world-group"),
+				userGroupStr:  fmt.Sprintf("%d:%s", 1001, "hello-world-group"),
+				fallbackToUID: false,
 			},
 			wantErr: true,
 		},
@@ -742,7 +740,10 @@ func Test_GetUIDAndGIDFromString(t *testing.T) {
 				userGroupStr:  fmt.Sprintf("%d", currentUserUID),
 				fallbackToUID: false,
 			},
-			wantErr: true,
+			expected: expected{
+				userID:  expectedCurrentUser.userID,
+				groupID: 0,
+			},
 		},
 		{
 			testname: "only uid and fallback is true",
diff --git a/pkg/util/syscall_credentials.go b/pkg/util/syscall_credentials.go
index a316ea004..2177abd52 100644
--- a/pkg/util/syscall_credentials.go
+++ b/pkg/util/syscall_credentials.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package util
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 	"syscall"
 
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
@@ -54,6 +55,12 @@ func SyscallCredentials(userStr string) (*syscall.Credential, error) {
 		groups = append(groups, uint32(i))
 	}
 
+	if !(len(strings.Split(userStr, ":")) > 1) {
+		if u.Gid != "" {
+			gid, _ = getGID(u.Gid)
+		}
+	}
+
 	return &syscall.Credential{
 		Uid:    uid,
 		Gid:    gid,