diff --git a/libpod/container_internal_common.go b/libpod/container_internal_common.go
index f7a51f5a32..a8747f8490 100644
--- a/libpod/container_internal_common.go
+++ b/libpod/container_internal_common.go
@@ -821,12 +821,12 @@ func lookupHostUser(name string) (*runcuser.ExecUser, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return &execUser, err
 	}
-	uid, err := strconv.ParseUint(u.Uid, 8, 32)
+	uid, err := strconv.ParseUint(u.Uid, 10, 32)
 	if err != nil {
 		return &execUser, err
 	}
 
-	gid, err := strconv.ParseUint(u.Gid, 8, 32)
+	gid, err := strconv.ParseUint(u.Gid, 10, 32)
 	if err != nil {
 		return &execUser, err
 	}
diff --git a/test/system/030-run.bats b/test/system/030-run.bats
index 82bbd67d13..a1e26805c2 100644
--- a/test/system/030-run.bats
+++ b/test/system/030-run.bats
@@ -786,6 +786,17 @@ EOF
     user=$(id -un)
     run_podman 1 run --rm $IMAGE grep $user /etc/passwd
     run_podman run --hostuser=$user --rm $IMAGE grep $user /etc/passwd
+
+    # find a user with a uid > 100 that is a valid octal
+    # Issue #19800
+    octal_user=$(awk -F\: '$1!="nobody" && $3>100 && $3~/^[0-7]+$/ {print $1 " " $3; exit}' /etc/passwd)
+    # test only if a valid user was found
+    if test -n "$octal_user"; then
+        read octal_username octal_userid <<< $octal_user
+        run_podman run --user=$octal_username --hostuser=$octal_username --rm $IMAGE id -u
+        is "$output" "$octal_userid"
+    fi
+
     user=$(id -u)
     run_podman run --hostuser=$user --rm $IMAGE grep $user /etc/passwd
     run_podman run --hostuser=$user --user $user --rm $IMAGE grep $user /etc/passwd