diff --git a/sugar/presence/PresenceService.py b/sugar/presence/PresenceService.py
index 7fb0a44d..ec30db4f 100644
--- a/sugar/presence/PresenceService.py
+++ b/sugar/presence/PresenceService.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import os
 import string
 import random
 from sugar import util
+from sugar import env
 
 def _get_local_ip_address(ifname):
 	"""Call Linux specific bits to retrieve our own IP address."""
@@ -196,7 +197,8 @@ class PresenceService(gobject.GObject):
 			buddy.add_service(service)
 		except KeyError:
 			# Should this service mark the owner?
-			if service.get_address() in self._local_addrs.values():
+			owner_nick = env.get_nick_name()
+			if name == owner_nick and service.get_address() in self._local_addrs.values():
 				buddy = Buddy.Owner(service)
 				self._owner = buddy
 				print "Set owner to %s" % name
diff --git a/sugar/shell/Owner.py b/sugar/shell/Owner.py
index b7074d70..ea6c5ff2 100644
--- a/sugar/shell/Owner.py
+++ b/sugar/shell/Owner.py
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ from sugar.presence import Service
 from sugar.presence import Buddy
 from sugar.presence import PresenceService
 from sugar.p2p import Stream
-import pwd
 import os
 import random
 import base64
@@ -16,11 +15,6 @@ class ShellOwner(object):
 	server portion of the Owner, paired with the client portion in Buddy.py."""
 	def __init__(self):
 		nick = env.get_nick_name()
-		if not nick:
-			nick = pwd.getpwuid(os.getuid())[0]
-		if not nick or not len(nick):
-			nick = "Guest"
-
 		user_dir = env.get_user_dir()
 		if not os.path.exists(user_dir):
 			try:
diff --git a/sugar/sugar b/sugar/sugar
index f90ed4c5..259e9b65 100755
--- a/sugar/sugar
+++ b/sugar/sugar
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 import sys
 import os
+import pwd
+import random
 
 import pygtk
 pygtk.require('2.0')
@@ -47,6 +49,13 @@ for arg in sys.argv:
 		started_dbus = True
 	i += 1
 
+if not os.environ.has_key("SUGAR_NICK_NAME"):
+	nick = pwd.getpwuid(os.getuid())[0]
+	if not nick or not len(nick):
+		nick = "Guest %d" % random.randint(1, 10000)
+	os.environ['SUGAR_NICK_NAME'] = nick
+	os.environ['SUGAR_USER_DIR'] = os.path.expanduser('~/.sugar')
+
 curdir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
 if curdir == '.':
 	basedir = os.path.dirname(os.getcwd())