diff --git a/stages/org.osbuild.kickstart b/stages/org.osbuild.kickstart
index 22434350cb..16ff518b0c 100755
--- a/stages/org.osbuild.kickstart
+++ b/stages/org.osbuild.kickstart
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ commands are supported here.
 """
 
 import os
+import shlex
 import sys
 from typing import Dict, List
 
@@ -115,6 +116,17 @@ SCHEMA = r"""
           "key": {
             "description": "SSH Public Key to add to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys",
             "type": "string"
+          },
+          "sudo": {
+            "description": "Configure sudo for the given user",
+            "type": "object",
+            "additionalProperties": false,
+            "properties": {
+              "nopasswd": {
+                "description": "Allow use of sudo without a password",
+                "type": "boolean"
+              }
+            }
           }
         }
       }
@@ -325,6 +337,15 @@ def make_users(users: Dict) -> List[str]:
         if key:
             res.append(f'sshkey --username {name} "{key}"')
 
+        sudo = opts.get("sudo")
+        if sudo is not None:
+            # the schema makes this unnecessary but paranoia++
+            if shlex.quote(name) != name:
+                raise ValueError(f"invalid username '{name}': requires shell quoting")
+            nopasswd = "\\tNOPASSWD:" if sudo.get("nopasswd", False) else ""
+            # not using "echo" as it's semantic depends on the shell
+            res.append(f'%post\nprintf "{name}\\tALL=(ALL){nopasswd} ALL\\n" >> /etc/sudoers.d/{name}-ks')
+
     return res
 
 
diff --git a/stages/test/test_kickstart.py b/stages/test/test_kickstart.py
index 6accce7126..36f9c99cf8 100644
--- a/stages/test/test_kickstart.py
+++ b/stages/test/test_kickstart.py
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 #!/usr/bin/python3
 
 import os.path
+import pathlib
 import subprocess
+import sys
 
 import pytest
 
@@ -10,6 +12,10 @@
 from osbuild.testutil.imports import import_module_from_path
 
 TEST_INPUT = [
+    ({"users": {"foo": {}}}, "user --name foo"),
+    ({"users": {"foo": {"sudo": {}}}}, 'user --name foo\n%post\nprintf "foo\\tALL=(ALL) ALL\\n" >> /etc/sudoers.d/foo-ks'),
+    ({"users": {"foo": {"sudo": {"nopasswd": True}}}},
+     'user --name foo\n%post\nprintf "foo\\tALL=(ALL)\\tNOPASSWD: ALL\\n" >> /etc/sudoers.d/foo-ks'),
     ({"lang": "en_US.UTF-8"}, "lang en_US.UTF-8"),
     ({"keyboard": "us"}, "keyboard us"),
     ({"timezone": "UTC"}, "timezone UTC"),
@@ -249,3 +255,64 @@ def test_schema_validation_bad_apples(test_data, expected_err):
     assert len(res.errors) == 1
     err_msgs = [e.as_dict()["message"] for e in res.errors]
     assert expected_err in err_msgs[0]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("user,test_sudo_options,expected_sudoers_content", [
+    ("foo", {"sudo": {}}, "foo\tALL=(ALL) ALL\n"),
+    ("bar", {"sudo": {"nopasswd": True}}, "bar\tALL=(ALL)\tNOPASSWD: ALL\n"),
+])
+def test_kickstart_sudo(tmp_path, user, test_sudo_options, expected_sudoers_content):
+    ks_stage_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "../org.osbuild.kickstart")
+    ks_stage = import_module_from_path("ks_stage", ks_stage_path)
+
+    ks_path = "kickstart/kfs.cfg"
+    options = {
+        "path": ks_path,
+        "users": {user: {}},
+    }
+    options["users"][user].update(test_sudo_options)
+
+    ks_stage.main(tmp_path, options)
+
+    ks_path = os.path.join(tmp_path, ks_path)
+    with open(ks_path, encoding="utf-8") as fp:
+        ks_content = fp.read()
+    # extract the actual script
+    script = ks_content.split("%post")[-1]
+    script = script.replace("/etc/", f"{tmp_path}/etc/")
+    fake_sudoers_d_path = pathlib.Path(f"{tmp_path}/etc/sudoers.d/{user}-ks")
+    fake_sudoers_d_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True)
+    # and run it (this is slightly dangerous)
+    subprocess.run(script, shell=True)
+    assert fake_sudoers_d_path.read_text() == expected_sudoers_content
+    # check that sudo is happy
+    subprocess.run(
+        ["visudo", "-cf", os.fspath(fake_sudoers_d_path)],
+        stdout=sys.stdout,
+        stderr=sys.stdout,
+        check=True,
+    )
+
+
+# note that the schema should prevent this but paranoia
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("bad_username", [
+    'foo"', 'bar;', 'baz";exit 1',
+])
+def test_kickstart_sudo_validates_sh(tmp_path, bad_username):
+    ks_stage_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "../org.osbuild.kickstart")
+    ks_stage = import_module_from_path("ks_stage", ks_stage_path)
+
+    ks_path = "kickstart/kfs.cfg"
+    options = {
+        "path": ks_path,
+        "users": {
+            bad_username: {
+                "sudo": {},
+            },
+        },
+    }
+
+    with pytest.raises(Exception) as e:
+        ks_stage.main(tmp_path, options)
+    assert e.type is ValueError
+    assert e.value.args[0] == f"invalid username '{bad_username}': requires shell quoting"