diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 2b56733d..50193bdc 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+2007-11-10  Nicolas François  <nicolas.francois@centraliens.net>
+
+	* NEWS, src/useradd.c: allow non numerical group identifier to be
+	specified with useradd's -g option. Applied Debian patch
+	397_non_numerical_identifier. Thanks also to Greg Schafer
+	<gschafer@zip.com.au>.
+
 2007-10-28  Nicolas François  <nicolas.francois@centraliens.net>
 
 	* configure.in: Prepare the next release: 4.0.18.2. The gettext
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 0288a723..69f16c5a 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 $Id: NEWS,v 1.492 2007/02/01 20:49:25 kloczek Exp $
 
+shadow-4.0.18.1 -> shadow-4.0.18.2					UNRELEASED
+
+*** general:
+- useradd: Allow non numerical group identifier to be specified with
+  useradd's -g option. Applied Debian patch 397_non_numerical_identifier.
+  Thanks also to Greg Schafer <gschafer@zip.com.au>.
+
 shadow-4.0.18.1 -> shadow-4.0.18.2					28-10-2007
 
 *** general:
diff --git a/src/useradd.c b/src/useradd.c
index b47475d9..eebe8e3d 100644
--- a/src/useradd.c
+++ b/src/useradd.c
@@ -204,12 +204,8 @@ static struct group *getgr_nam_gid (const char *grname)
 	char *errptr;
 
 	gid = strtol (grname, &errptr, 10);
-	if (*errptr || errno == ERANGE || gid < 0) {
-		fprintf (stderr,
-			 _("%s: invalid numeric argument '%s'\n"), Prog,
-			 grname);
-		exit (E_BAD_ARG);
-	}
+	if (*grname != '\0' && *errptr == '\0' && errno != ERANGE && gid >= 0)
+		return getgrgid (gid);
 	return getgrnam (grname);
 }