diff --git a/contrib/osx/addsysuser b/contrib/osx/addsysuser
index c57f46e139..7b167eac00 100755
--- a/contrib/osx/addsysuser
+++ b/contrib/osx/addsysuser
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@
 # Modified for Tor installer by Nick Mathewson
 # 2007-06-12 Modified for leopard by Andrew Lewman
 
+
+ROOTPROP=/
+
 if [ "`whoami`" != "root" ]; then
 echo "You must be root to execute this script."
 exit
@@ -16,30 +19,50 @@ fi
 username=$1
 realname=$2
 homedir=$3
-# GID 20 is "staff" which is the default. Change it if you want.
-#gid=`niutil -readprop $ROOTPROP /groups/daemon gid`
-gid=`dscl . -read /groups/daemon gid`
-echo $gid
-#if [ "x`niutil -list $ROOTPROP /users|cut -f2 -d' '|grep $username`" != "x" ]; then
-if [ "x`dscl . -list /users|cut -f2 -d' '|grep $username`" != "x" ]; then
-echo The account $username already exists.
-exit 0
+if [ -x /usr/bin/dscl ]; then
+   # Determine the gid of the daemon group
+   gid=`dscl . -read /groups/daemon gid`
+   if [ "x`dscl . -list /users|cut -f2 -d' '|grep $username`" != "x" ]; then
+      echo The account $username already exists.
+      exit 0
+   fi
+   # home is the local path to the home directory
+   home=/Users/$username
+   echo Creating account for $username...
+   dscl . -create /users/$username
+   dscl . -create /users/$username _writers_tim_passwd $username
+   dscl . -create /users/$username realname $realname
+   dscl . -create /users/$username _writers_passwd $username
+   dscl . -create /users/$username gid $gid
+   dscl . -create /users/$username home $homedir
+   dscl . -create /users/$username name $username
+   dscl . -create /users/$username passwd '*'
+   dscl . -create /users/$username shell /dev/null
+else
+    # Determine the gid of the daemon group
+   gid=`niutil -readprop $ROOTPROP /groups/daemon gid`
+   if [ "x`niutil -list $ROOTPROP /users|cut -f2 -d' '|grep $username`" != "x" ]; then
+      echo The account $username already exists.
+      exit 0
+   fi
+   # home is the local path to the home directory
+   home=/Users/$username
+   # defhome is what goes into NetInfo
+   defhome="/Network/Servers/MyServer/Users"
+   #echo "Determining next available system uid (please be patient)..."
+   # Uids over 500 are for system users.
+   uiddef=`nidump passwd / | cut -d: -f3 | sort -n | grep -v '^[56789]..' |grep -v '^....$' | tail -n 1`
+   uiddef=`echo $uiddef + 1 |bc`
+   echo Creating account for $username...
+   niutil -create $ROOTPROP /users/$username
+   niutil -createprop $ROOTPROP /users/$username _writers_tim_passwd $username
+   niutil -createprop $ROOTPROP /users/$username realname $realname
+   niutil -createprop $ROOTPROP /users/$username _writers_passwd $username
+   niutil -createprop $ROOTPROP /users/$username uid $uiddef
+   #niutil -createprop $ROOTPROP /users/$username home_loc "<home_dir><url>afp://afp.server.com/Users/</url><path>$username</path></home_dir>"
+   niutil -createprop $ROOTPROP /users/$username gid $gid
+   niutil -createprop $ROOTPROP /users/$username home $homedir
+   niutil -createprop $ROOTPROP /users/$username name $username
+   niutil -createprop $ROOTPROP /users/$username passwd '*'
+   niutil -createprop $ROOTPROP /users/$username shell /dev/null
 fi
-# home is the local path to the home directory
-home=/Users/$username
-# defhome is what goes into NetInfo
-defhome="/Network/Servers/MyServer/Users"
-#echo "Determining next available system uid (please be patient)..."
-# Uids over 500 are for system users.
-#uiddef=`nidump passwd / | cut -d: -f3 | sort -n | grep -v '^[56789]..' |grep -v '^....$' | tail -n 1`
-#uiddef=`echo $uiddef + 1 |bc`
-echo Creating account for $username...
-dscl . -create /users/$username
-dscl . -create /users/$username _writers_tim_passwd $username
-dscl . -create /users/$username realname $realname
-dscl . -create /users/$username _writers_passwd $username
-dscl . -create /users/$username gid $gid
-dscl . -create /users/$username home $homedir
-dscl . -create /users/$username name $username
-dscl . -create /users/$username passwd '*'
-dscl . -create /users/$username shell /dev/null
diff --git a/contrib/osx/uninstall_tor_bundle.sh b/contrib/osx/uninstall_tor_bundle.sh
index c1c6f507af..bb992f7a95 100755
--- a/contrib/osx/uninstall_tor_bundle.sh
+++ b/contrib/osx/uninstall_tor_bundle.sh
@@ -33,11 +33,9 @@
 ##	(ie "Tor", "torstartup", ...) the list should be new-line-delimited.
 PACKAGE_LIST_SRC=./package_list.txt
 
-
 ### this is the name of the user created in the install process of Tor
 TOR_USER=_tor
 
-
 ### these should be constant across all osX installs (so leave them be)
 STARTUP_ITEMS_DIR=/Library/StartupItems
 PKG_RCPT_BASE_DIR=/Library/Receipts
@@ -45,7 +43,6 @@ BOM_INTERMEDIATE_DIR=Contents/Resources
 INFO_INTERMEDIATE_DIR=$BOM_INTERMEDIATE_DIR/English.lproj
 TEMP_BOM_CONTENTS=/tmp/tor_uninst_scratch
 
-
 ### make sure the script is being run as root, barf if not
 if [ "`whoami`" != "root" ]; then
 	echo "Must be root to run the uninstall script."
@@ -128,9 +125,11 @@ done < $PACKAGE_LIST_SRC
 
 ## nuke the user created by the install process.
 echo ". Removing created user $TOR_USER"
-#niutil -destroy . /users/$TOR_USER
-dscl . -delete /users/$TOR_USER
-
+if [ -x /usr/bin/dscl ]; then
+   dscl . -delete /users/$TOR_USER
+else
+   niutil -destroy . /users/$TOR_USER
+fi
 
 ## clean up
 echo ". Cleaning up"