diff --git a/src/uu/chown/src/chown.rs b/src/uu/chown/src/chown.rs
index c58696121..18c64d60e 100644
--- a/src/uu/chown/src/chown.rs
+++ b/src/uu/chown/src/chown.rs
@@ -167,17 +167,18 @@ pub fn uu_app<'a>() -> Command<'a> {
         )
 }
 
-/// Parse the username and groupname
+/// Parse the owner/group specifier string into a user ID and a group ID.
 ///
-/// In theory, it should be username:groupname
-/// but ...
-/// it can user.name:groupname
-/// or username.groupname
+/// The `spec` can be of the form:
 ///
-/// # Arguments
+/// * `"owner:group"`,
+/// * `"owner"`,
+/// * `":group"`,
 ///
-/// * `spec` - The input from the user
-/// * `sep` - Should be ':' or '.'
+/// and the owner or group can be specified either as an ID or a
+/// name. The `sep` argument specifies which character to use as a
+/// separator between the owner and group; calling code should set
+/// this to `':'`.
 fn parse_spec(spec: &str, sep: char) -> UResult<(Option<u32>, Option<u32>)> {
     assert!(['.', ':'].contains(&sep));
     let mut args = spec.splitn(2, sep);
@@ -215,11 +216,18 @@ fn parse_spec(spec: &str, sep: char) -> UResult<(Option<u32>, Option<u32>)> {
         None
     };
     let gid = if !group.is_empty() {
-        Some(
-            Group::locate(group)
-                .map_err(|_| USimpleError::new(1, format!("invalid group: {}", spec.quote())))?
-                .gid,
-        )
+        Some(match Group::locate(group) {
+            Ok(g) => g.gid,
+            Err(_) => match group.parse() {
+                Ok(gid) => gid,
+                Err(_) => {
+                    return Err(USimpleError::new(
+                        1,
+                        format!("invalid group: {}", spec.quote()),
+                    ));
+                }
+            },
+        })
     } else {
         None
     };
@@ -238,4 +246,17 @@ mod test {
         assert!(format!("{}", parse_spec("::", ':').err().unwrap()).starts_with("invalid group: "));
         assert!(format!("{}", parse_spec("..", ':').err().unwrap()).starts_with("invalid group: "));
     }
+
+    /// Test for parsing IDs that don't correspond to a named user or group.
+    #[test]
+    fn test_parse_spec_nameless_ids() {
+        // This assumes that there is no named user with ID 12345.
+        assert!(matches!(parse_spec("12345", ':'), Ok((Some(12345), None))));
+        // This assumes that there is no named group with ID 54321.
+        assert!(matches!(parse_spec(":54321", ':'), Ok((None, Some(54321)))));
+        assert!(matches!(
+            parse_spec("12345:54321", ':'),
+            Ok((Some(12345), Some(54321)))
+        ));
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_chown.rs b/tests/by-util/test_chown.rs
index 05a10fb65..ef3fc0d33 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_chown.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_chown.rs
@@ -484,6 +484,29 @@ fn test_chown_only_group_id() {
         .stderr_contains(&"failed to change");
 }
 
+/// Test for setting the group to a group ID for a group that does not exist.
+///
+/// For example:
+///
+///     $ touch f && chown :12345 f
+///
+/// succeeds with exit status 0 and outputs nothing. The group of the
+/// file is set to 12345, even though no group with that ID exists.
+///
+/// This test must be run as root, because only the root user can
+/// transfer ownership of a file.
+#[test]
+fn test_chown_only_group_id_nonexistent_group() {
+    let ts = TestScenario::new(util_name!());
+    let at = ts.fixtures.clone();
+    at.touch("f");
+    if let Ok(result) = run_ucmd_as_root(&ts, &[":12345", "f"]) {
+        result.success().no_stdout().no_stderr();
+    } else {
+        print!("Test skipped; requires root user");
+    }
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn test_chown_owner_group_id() {
     // test chown 1111:1111 file.txt