diff --git a/Lib/tarfile.py b/Lib/tarfile.py
index bc608e9..beb41357 100644
--- a/Lib/tarfile.py
+++ b/Lib/tarfile.py
@@ -923,8 +923,8 @@
         self.chksum = 0         # header checksum
         self.type = REGTYPE     # member type
         self.linkname = ""      # link name
-        self.uname = "root"     # user name
-        self.gname = "root"     # group name
+        self.uname = ""         # user name
+        self.gname = ""         # group name
         self.devmajor = 0       # device major number
         self.devminor = 0       # device minor number
 
@@ -1102,8 +1102,8 @@
             info.get("type", REGTYPE),
             stn(info.get("linkname", ""), 100, encoding, errors),
             info.get("magic", POSIX_MAGIC),
-            stn(info.get("uname", "root"), 32, encoding, errors),
-            stn(info.get("gname", "root"), 32, encoding, errors),
+            stn(info.get("uname", ""), 32, encoding, errors),
+            stn(info.get("gname", ""), 32, encoding, errors),
             itn(info.get("devmajor", 0), 8, format),
             itn(info.get("devminor", 0), 8, format),
             stn(info.get("prefix", ""), 155, encoding, errors)