diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 2f449f74..a9de9ec9 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
 	are applied to the chroot.
 	* NEWS, src/useradd.c, man/useradd.8.xml: Add --root option. Open
 	audit after the potential chroot.
+	* NEWS, src/userdel.c, man/userdel.8.xml: Add --root option. Open
+	audit and syslog after the potential chroot. userdel's usage split
+	in smaller messages.
 
 2011-10-22  Nicolas François  <nicolas.francois@centraliens.net>
 
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 82620925..1f802b62 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ shadow-4.1.4.3 -> shadow-4.1.5					UNRELEASED
     it. If it does not exist, a warning is issued, but no failure.
   * Do not remove a group with the same name as the user (usergroup) if
     this group isn't the user's primary group.
+  * Add --root option.
 - usermod
   * Accept options in any order (username not necessarily at the end)
   * When the shadow file exists but there are no shadow entries, an entry
diff --git a/man/userdel.8.xml b/man/userdel.8.xml
index 1ee70b2a..7b85c48c 100644
--- a/man/userdel.8.xml
+++ b/man/userdel.8.xml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <!--
    Copyright (c) 1991 - 1994, Julianne Frances Haugh
-   Copyright (c) 2007 - 2009, Nicolas François
+   Copyright (c) 2007 - 2011, Nicolas François
    All rights reserved.
   
    Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
@@ -123,6 +123,19 @@
 	  </para>
 	</listitem>
       </varlistentry>
+      <varlistentry>
+	<term>
+	  <option>-R</option>, <option>--root</option>
+	  <replaceable>CHROOT_DIR</replaceable>
+	</term>
+	<listitem>
+	  <para>
+	    Apply changes in the <replaceable>CHROOT_DIR</replaceable>
+	    directory and use the configuration files from the
+	    <replaceable>CHROOT_DIR</replaceable> directory.
+	  </para>
+	</listitem>
+      </varlistentry>
     </variablelist>
   </refsect1>
 
diff --git a/src/userdel.c b/src/userdel.c
index c1995f13..49d3292c 100644
--- a/src/userdel.c
+++ b/src/userdel.c
@@ -122,14 +122,19 @@ static int remove_tcbdir (const char *user_name, uid_t user_id);
  */
 static void usage (int status)
 {
-	fputs (_("Usage: userdel [options] LOGIN\n"
-	         "\n"
-	         "Options:\n"
-	         "  -f, --force                   force removal of files,\n"
-	         "                                even if not owned by user\n"
-	         "  -h, --help                    display this help message and exit\n"
-	         "  -r, --remove                  remove home directory and mail spool\n"
-	         "\n"), (E_SUCCESS != status) ? stderr : stdout);
+	FILE *usageout = (E_SUCCESS != status) ? stderr : stdout;
+	(void) fprintf (usageout,
+	                _("Usage: %s [options] LOGIN\n"
+	                  "\n"
+	                  "Options:\n"),
+	                Prog);
+	(void) fputs (_("  -f, --force                   force removal of files,\n"
+	                "                                even if not owned by user\n"),
+	              usageout);
+	(void) fputs (_("  -h, --help                    display this help message and exit\n"), usageout);
+	(void) fputs (_("  -r, --remove                  remove home directory and mail spool\n"), usageout);
+	(void) fputs (_("  -R, --root CHROOT_DIR         directory to chroot into\n"), usageout);
+	(void) fputs ("\n", usageout);
 	exit (status);
 }
 
@@ -844,10 +849,6 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
 #endif				/* USE_PAM */
 #endif				/* ACCT_TOOLS_SETUID */
 
-#ifdef WITH_AUDIT
-	audit_help_open ();
-#endif				/* WITH_AUDIT */
-
 	/*
 	 * Get my name so that I can use it to report errors.
 	 */
@@ -856,6 +857,13 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
 	(void) bindtextdomain (PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR);
 	(void) textdomain (PACKAGE);
 
+	process_root_flag ("-R", argc, argv);
+
+	OPENLOG ("userdel");
+#ifdef WITH_AUDIT
+	audit_help_open ();
+#endif				/* WITH_AUDIT */
+
 	{
 		/*
 		 * Parse the command line options.
@@ -865,9 +873,10 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
 			{"force", no_argument, NULL, 'f'},
 			{"help", no_argument, NULL, 'h'},
 			{"remove", no_argument, NULL, 'r'},
+			{"root", required_argument, NULL, 'R'},
 			{NULL, 0, NULL, '\0'}
 		};
-		while ((c = getopt_long (argc, argv, "fhr",
+		while ((c = getopt_long (argc, argv, "fhrR:",
 		                         long_options, NULL)) != -1) {
 			switch (c) {
 			case 'f':	/* force remove even if not owned by user */
@@ -879,6 +888,8 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
 			case 'r':	/* remove home dir and mailbox */
 				rflg = true;
 				break;
+			case 'R': /* no-op, handled in process_root_flag () */
+				break;
 			default:
 				usage (E_USAGE);
 			}
@@ -889,8 +900,6 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
 		usage (E_USAGE);
 	}
 
-	OPENLOG ("userdel");
-
 #ifdef ACCT_TOOLS_SETUID
 #ifdef USE_PAM
 	{