diff --git a/streamparse/cli/common.py b/streamparse/cli/common.py
index 54d0907a..6846f975 100644
--- a/streamparse/cli/common.py
+++ b/streamparse/cli/common.py
@@ -177,6 +177,13 @@ def add_timeout(parser):
                              '(default: %(default)s)')
 
 
+def add_user(parser):
+    """ Add --user option to parser """
+    parser.add_argument('--user',
+                        help='User argument to sudo when deleting files.',
+                        default='root')
+
+
 def add_wait(parser):
     """ Add --wait option to parser """
     parser.add_argument('--wait',
diff --git a/streamparse/cli/remove_logs.py b/streamparse/cli/remove_logs.py
index c3e9aa8d..2791d549 100644
--- a/streamparse/cli/remove_logs.py
+++ b/streamparse/cli/remove_logs.py
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ def subparser_hook(subparsers):
     add_override_name(subparser)
     add_pattern(subparser)
     add_pool_size(subparser)
+    # Not using add_user because we need -u for backward compatibility
     subparser.add_argument('-u', '--user',
                            help="User argument to sudo when deleting logs.",
                            default='root')
diff --git a/streamparse/cli/submit.py b/streamparse/cli/submit.py
index 370c63ec..7379e2fe 100644
--- a/streamparse/cli/submit.py
+++ b/streamparse/cli/submit.py
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@
 from .common import (add_ackers, add_config, add_debug, add_environment,
                      add_name, add_options, add_override_name,
                      add_overwrite_virtualenv, add_pool_size, add_requirements,
-                     add_timeout, add_wait, add_workers, resolve_options)
+                     add_timeout, add_user, add_wait, add_workers,
+                     resolve_options)
 from .jar import jar_for_deploy
 from .kill import _kill_topology
 from .list import _list_topologies
@@ -144,7 +145,7 @@ def submit_topology(name=None, env_name=None, options=None, force=False,
                     wait=None, simple_jar=True, override_name=None,
                     requirements_paths=None, local_jar_path=None,
                     remote_jar_path=None, timeout=None, config_file=None,
-                    overwrite_virtualenv=False):
+                    overwrite_virtualenv=False, user='root'):
     """Submit a topology to a remote Storm cluster."""
     config = get_config()
     name, topology_file = get_topology_definition(name, config_file=config_file)
@@ -180,7 +181,8 @@ def submit_topology(name=None, env_name=None, options=None, force=False,
                                          virtualenv_name=virtualenv_name,
                                          requirements_paths=requirements_paths,
                                          config_file=config_file,
-                                         overwrite_virtualenv=overwrite_virtualenv)
+                                         overwrite_virtualenv=overwrite_virtualenv,
+                                         user=user)
         streamparse_run_path = '/'.join([env.virtualenv_root, virtualenv_name,
                                          'bin', 'streamparse_run'])
         # Update python paths in bolts
@@ -276,6 +278,7 @@ def subparser_hook(subparsers):
                                 'components in your topology.  Useful if you '
                                 'are providing your own seriailzer class.',
                            dest='simple_jar', action='store_false')
+    add_user(subparser)
     add_wait(subparser)
     add_workers(subparser)
 
@@ -292,4 +295,5 @@ def main(args):
                     remote_jar_path=args.remote_jar_path,
                     timeout=args.timeout,
                     config_file=args.config,
-                    overwrite_virtualenv=args.overwrite_virtualenv)
+                    overwrite_virtualenv=args.overwrite_virtualenv,
+                    user=args.user)
diff --git a/streamparse/cli/update_virtualenv.py b/streamparse/cli/update_virtualenv.py
index 82836c75..e01ede23 100644
--- a/streamparse/cli/update_virtualenv.py
+++ b/streamparse/cli/update_virtualenv.py
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@
 
 from .common import (add_config, add_environment, add_name, add_options,
                      add_override_name, add_overwrite_virtualenv,
-                     add_pool_size, add_requirements, resolve_options)
+                     add_pool_size, add_requirements, add_user,
+                     resolve_options)
 from ..util import (activate_env, die, get_config, get_env_config,
                     get_topology_definition, get_topology_from_file)
 
@@ -134,10 +135,7 @@ def subparser_hook(subparsers):
     add_override_name(subparser)
     add_pool_size(subparser)
     add_requirements(subparser)
-    subparser.add_argument('-u', '--user',
-                           help="User argument to sudo when deleting "
-                                "virtualenv for --overwrite_virtualenv.",
-                           default='root')
+    add_user(subparser)
 
 
 def main(args):