diff --git a/lib/defaults.js b/lib/defaults.js
index 3bd8e79..52b3089 100644
--- a/lib/defaults.js
+++ b/lib/defaults.js
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 module.exports = {
   //database user's name
-  user: '',
+  user: process.env.USER,
   //name of database to connect
-  database: '',
+  database: process.env.USER,
   //database user's password
-  password: '',
+  password: null,
   //database port
   port: 5432,
   //number of rows to return at a time from a prepared statement's
diff --git a/test/unit/client/configuration-tests.js b/test/unit/client/configuration-tests.js
index 4a90811..8521301 100644
--- a/test/unit/client/configuration-tests.js
+++ b/test/unit/client/configuration-tests.js
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ test('client settings', function() {
 
   test('defaults', function() {
     var client = new Client();
-    assert.equal(client.user, '');
-    assert.equal(client.database, '');
+    assert.equal(client.user, process.env.USER);
+    assert.equal(client.database, process.env.USER);
     assert.equal(client.port, 5432);
   });
 
@@ -41,11 +41,11 @@ test('initializing from a config string', function() {
 
   test('when not including all values the defaults are used', function() {
     var client = new Client("pg://host1")
-    assert.equal(client.user, "")
-    assert.equal(client.password, "")
+    assert.equal(client.user, process.env.USER)
+    assert.equal(client.password, null)
     assert.equal(client.host, "host1")
     assert.equal(client.port, 5432)
-    assert.equal(client.database, "")
+    assert.equal(client.database, process.env.USER)
   })