diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 5424c1bb..55b6a2e0 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ byobu (4.53) unreleased; urgency=low
     - use ~/.local/share/byobu as BYOBU_CONFIG_DIR, if it happens to exist
   * usr/lib/byobu/include/dirs: LP: #899271
     - allow explicit BYOBU_CONFIG_DIR selection in ~/.byoburc
+  * usr/lib/byobu/users, usr/share/byobu/status/statusrc,
+    usr/share/man/man1/byobu.1: LP: #900663
+    - add support for a USERS_DISTINCT=1 status configuration setting
+      to count the number of distinct users, rather than open ssh sessions
 
   [ Andrew McCarthy ]
   * usr/bin/byobu-status: LP: #898801
diff --git a/usr/lib/byobu/users b/usr/lib/byobu/users
index cba95828..79952412 100755
--- a/usr/lib/byobu/users
+++ b/usr/lib/byobu/users
@@ -27,9 +27,13 @@ __users_detail() {
 
 __users() {
 	local count
-	# Note: we'd like to use pgrep -c, however, this isn't available in
-	# busybox and some distro's pgrep (and it doesn't exit non-zero).
-	count=`pgrep -f "sshd:.*@" | wc -l` || return
+	if [ "$USERS_DISTINCT" = "1" ]; then
+		count=$(pgrep -fl 'sshd:.*@' | cut -f3 -d\ | cut -f1 -d@ | sort -u | wc -l)
+	else
+		# Note: we'd like to use pgrep -c, however, this isn't available in
+		# busybox and some distro's pgrep (and it doesn't exit non-zero).
+		count=$(pgrep -f "sshd:.*@" | wc -l) || return
+	fi
 	if [ $count -gt 0 ]; then
 		color b w r; printf "%d" "$count"; color -; color w r; printf "#"; color --
 	fi
diff --git a/usr/share/byobu/status/statusrc b/usr/share/byobu/status/statusrc
index 34edd513..aaef12e2 100644
--- a/usr/share/byobu/status/statusrc
+++ b/usr/share/byobu/status/statusrc
@@ -58,3 +58,12 @@
 #SERVICES="eucalyptus-nc|NC eucalyptus-cloud|CLC eucalyptus-walrus eucalyptus-cc|CC eucalyptus-sc|SC"
 
 #FAN=$(find /sys -type f -name fan1_input | head -n1)
+
+# You can set this to 1 to report your external/public ip address
+# Default: 0
+#IP_EXTERNAL=0
+
+# The users notification normally counts ssh sessions; set this configuration to '1'
+# to instead count number of distinct users logged onto the system
+# Default: 0
+#USERS_DISTINCT=0
diff --git a/usr/share/man/man1/byobu.1 b/usr/share/man/man1/byobu.1
index 060d09d9..11dfbedd 100644
--- a/usr/share/man/man1/byobu.1
+++ b/usr/share/man/man1/byobu.1
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ Note that BYOBU_CONFIG_DIR=\fI$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/byobu\fP if defined, and \fI$HOME
 
 \fBuptime\fP \- the total system uptime since last boot; displayed in the lower bar toward the right in blue text on a grey background
 
-\fBusers\fP \- the number of remote users logged into the system via sshd, empty if 0 users; displayed in the lower bar toward the right in red text on a grey background with a trailing '#' sign
+\fBusers\fP \- the number of remote users logged into the system via sshd, empty if 0 users; displayed in the lower bar toward the right in red text on a grey background with a trailing '#' sign; set USERS_DISTINCT=1 to instead count the number of distinct users logged into the system (rather than open ssh sessions)
 
 \fBwhoami\fP \- the name of the user who owns the screen session; displayed in the upper bar toward the far right in bold black text on a grey background