Index: Lib/tarfile.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/tarfile.py	(revision 82183)
+++ Lib/tarfile.py	(working copy)
@@ -928,8 +928,8 @@
         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