diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 748c4230..68a25ba2 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+2009-04-11  Peter Vrabec  <pvrabec@redhat.com>
+
+	* libmisc/find_new_gid.c, libmisc/find_new_uid.c: For system
+	accounts, return the first unused ID, starting from the max value.
+	This could be useful later to increase the static IDs range.
+
 2009-04-11  Peter Vrabec  <pvrabec@redhat.com>
 
 	* NEWS, src/useradd.c, man/useradd.8.xml: add -Z option to map
diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 71ccdf56..9351f563 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ shadow-4.1.2.2 -> shadow-4.1.3						UNRELEASED
   * error handling improvement (see above).
   * Speedup (see "addition of users or groups" above).
   * do not create groups with GID set to (gid_t)-1.
+  * Allocate system group GIDs in reverse order. This could be useful
+    later to increase the static IDs range.
 - groupdel
   * audit logging improvements.
   * error handling improvement (see above).
@@ -82,6 +84,8 @@ shadow-4.1.2.2 -> shadow-4.1.3						UNRELEASED
   * Speedup (see "addition of users or groups" above).
   * do not create users with UID set to (gid_t)-1.
   * do not create groups with GID set to (gid_t)-1.
+  * Allocate system account UIDs/GIDs in reverse order. This could be useful
+    later to increase the static IDs range.
 - passwd
   * For compatibility with other passwd version, the --lock an --unlock
     options do not lock or unlock the user account anymore.  They only
@@ -98,6 +102,8 @@ shadow-4.1.2.2 -> shadow-4.1.3						UNRELEASED
   * New -M/--no-create-home option to disable CREATE_HOME.
   * do not create users with UID set to (gid_t)-1.
   * Added -Z option to map SELinux user for user's login.
+  * Allocate system user UIDs in reverse order. This could be useful
+    later to increase the static IDs range.
 - userdel
   * audit logging improvements.
   * Do not fail if the removed user is not in the shadow database.
diff --git a/libmisc/find_new_gid.c b/libmisc/find_new_gid.c
index e7a072b0..d429c018 100644
--- a/libmisc/find_new_gid.c
+++ b/libmisc/find_new_gid.c
@@ -110,6 +110,23 @@ int find_new_gid (bool sys_group, gid_t *gid, gid_t const *preferred_gid)
 		}
 	}
 
+	/* find free system account in reverse order */
+	if (sys_group) {
+		for (group_id = gid_max; group_id >= gid_min; group_id--) {
+			if (0 == used_gids[group_id]) {
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+		if ( group_id < gid_min ) {
+			fprintf (stderr,
+			         _("%s: Can't get unique GID (no more available GIDs)\n"),
+			         Prog);
+			SYSLOG ((LOG_WARN,
+			         "no more available GID on the system"));
+			return -1;
+		}
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * If a group with GID equal to GID_MAX exists, the above algorithm
 	 * will give us GID_MAX+1 even if not unique. Search for the first
diff --git a/libmisc/find_new_uid.c b/libmisc/find_new_uid.c
index f00b3e12..784b1bb0 100644
--- a/libmisc/find_new_uid.c
+++ b/libmisc/find_new_uid.c
@@ -111,6 +111,23 @@ int find_new_uid (bool sys_user, uid_t *uid, uid_t const *preferred_uid)
 		}
 	}
 
+	/* find free system account in reverse order */
+	if (sys_user) {
+		for (user_id = uid_max; user_id >= uid_min; user_id--) {
+			if (0 == used_uids[user_id]) {
+				break;
+			}
+		}
+		if (user_id < uid_min ) {
+			fprintf (stderr,
+			         _("%s: Can't get unique system UID (no more available UIDs)\n"),
+			         Prog);
+			SYSLOG ((LOG_WARN,
+			         "no more available UID on the system"));
+			return -1;
+		}
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * If a user with UID equal to UID_MAX exists, the above algorithm
 	 * will give us UID_MAX+1 even if not unique. Search for the first