diff --git a/plugins/inputs/system/README.md b/plugins/inputs/system/README.md
index efaa8a17f..d5bcd7b03 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/system/README.md
+++ b/plugins/inputs/system/README.md
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ and number of users logged in. It is similar to the unix `uptime` command.
 #### Permissions:
 
 The `n_users` field requires read access to `/var/run/utmp`, and may require
-the `telegraf` user to be added to the `utmp` group on some systems.
+the `telegraf` user to be added to the `utmp` group on some systems. If this file does not exist `n_users` will be skipped.
 
 ### Metrics:
 
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/system/system.go b/plugins/inputs/system/system.go
index 5c68870bb..faf44f03e 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/system/system.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/system/system.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bufio"
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
+	"log"
 	"os"
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
@@ -44,8 +45,10 @@ func (_ *SystemStats) Gather(acc telegraf.Accumulator) error {
 	users, err := host.Users()
 	if err == nil {
 		fields["n_users"] = len(users)
-	} else if !os.IsPermission(err) {
-		return err
+	} else if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+		log.Printf("D! [inputs.system] Error reading users: %v", err)
+	} else if os.IsPermission(err) {
+		log.Printf("D! [inputs.system] %v", err)
 	}
 
 	now := time.Now()