diff --git a/github/data_source_github_user.go b/github/data_source_github_user.go
index c22c96e1ef..2f5cbcfde3 100644
--- a/github/data_source_github_user.go
+++ b/github/data_source_github_user.go
@@ -111,11 +111,11 @@ func dataSourceGithubUserRead(d *schema.ResourceData, meta interface{}) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	gpg, _, err := client.Users.ListGPGKeys(ctx, username, nil)
+	gpg, _, err := client.Users.ListGPGKeys(ctx, user.GetLogin(), nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	ssh, _, err := client.Users.ListKeys(ctx, username, nil)
+	ssh, _, err := client.Users.ListKeys(ctx, user.GetLogin(), nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/website/docs/d/user.html.markdown b/website/docs/d/user.html.markdown
index b3c051b0ae..467765f945 100644
--- a/website/docs/d/user.html.markdown
+++ b/website/docs/d/user.html.markdown
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 ---
 layout: "github"
 page_title: "GitHub: github_user"
+sidebar_current: "docs-github-datasource-user"
 description: |-
   Get information on a GitHub user.
 ---
@@ -12,14 +13,25 @@ Use this data source to retrieve information about a GitHub user.
 ## Example Usage
 
 ```hcl
+# Retrieve information about a GitHub user.
 data "github_user" "example" {
   username = "example"
 }
+
+# Retrieve information about the currently authenticated user.
+data "github_user" "current" {
+  username = ""
+}
+
+output "current_github_login" {
+  value = "${data.github_user.current.login}"
+}
+
 ```
 
 ## Argument Reference
 
- * `username` - (Required) The username.
+ * `username` - (Required) The username. Use an empty string `""` to retrieve information about the currently authenticated user.
 
 ## Attributes Reference
 
@@ -41,4 +53,3 @@ data "github_user" "example" {
  * `following` - the number of following users.
  * `created_at` - the creation date.
  * `updated_at` - the update date.
-