diff --git a/contrib/init/bitcoind.openrc b/contrib/init/bitcoind.openrc
index 1f7758c920..b0ac5e31e1 100644
--- a/contrib/init/bitcoind.openrc
+++ b/contrib/init/bitcoind.openrc
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@ BITCOIND_CONFIGFILE=${BITCOIND_CONFIGFILE:-/etc/bitcoin/bitcoin.conf}
 BITCOIND_PIDDIR=${BITCOIND_PIDDIR:-/var/run/bitcoind}
 BITCOIND_PIDFILE=${BITCOIND_PIDFILE:-${BITCOIND_PIDDIR}/bitcoind.pid}
 BITCOIND_DATADIR=${BITCOIND_DATADIR:-${BITCOIND_DEFAULT_DATADIR}}
-BITCOIND_USER=${BITCOIND_USER:-bitcoin}
+BITCOIND_USER=${BITCOIND_USER:-${BITCOIN_USER:-bitcoin}}
 BITCOIND_GROUP=${BITCOIND_GROUP:-bitcoin}
 BITCOIND_BIN=${BITCOIND_BIN:-/usr/bin/bitcoind}
+BITCOIND_NICE=${BITCOIND_NICE:-${NICELEVEL:-0}}
+BITCOIND_OPTS="${BITCOIND_OPTS:-${BITCOIN_OPTS}}"
 
 name="Bitcoin Core Daemon"
 description="Bitcoin crypto-currency p2p network daemon"
@@ -28,7 +30,7 @@ command_args="-pid=\"${BITCOIND_PIDFILE}\" \
 
 required_files="${BITCOIND_CONFIGFILE}"
 start_stop_daemon_args="-u ${BITCOIND_USER} \
-			-N ${BITCOIND_NICE:-0} -w 2000"
+			-N ${BITCOIND_NICE} -w 2000"
 pidfile="${BITCOIND_PIDFILE}"
 retry=60