diff --git a/examples/templates/aws-linux/main.tf b/examples/templates/aws-linux/main.tf
index 6208ccc0fd..fcd9b88d7b 100644
--- a/examples/templates/aws-linux/main.tf
+++ b/examples/templates/aws-linux/main.tf
@@ -138,8 +138,7 @@ sudo shutdown -h now
 --//--
 EOT
 
-  # Ensure Coder username is a valid Linux username
-  linux_user = lower(substr(data.coder_workspace.me.owner, 0, 32))
+  linux_user = "coder" # Ensure this user/group does not exist in your VM image
 
 }
 
diff --git a/examples/templates/azure-linux/main.tf b/examples/templates/azure-linux/main.tf
index f5f82ae20e..8f8b847ee7 100644
--- a/examples/templates/azure-linux/main.tf
+++ b/examples/templates/azure-linux/main.tf
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ locals {
   prefix = "coder-${data.coder_workspace.me.owner}-${data.coder_workspace.me.name}"
 
   userdata = templatefile("cloud-config.yaml.tftpl", {
-    username    = lower(substr(data.coder_workspace.me.owner, 0, 32))
+    username    = "coder" # Ensure this user/group does not exist in your VM image
     init_script = base64encode(coder_agent.main.init_script)
     hostname    = lower(data.coder_workspace.me.name)
   })