diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
index 14a11226..8e2ce923 100644
--- a/.gitattributes
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+/*/**/*.conf                linguist-generated
 /*/**/Dockerfile            linguist-generated
 /*/**/docker-entrypoint.sh  linguist-generated
 /Dockerfile*.template       linguist-language=Dockerfile
diff --git a/10-default-guest-user.conf b/10-default-guest-user.conf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3d905739
--- /dev/null
+++ b/10-default-guest-user.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+## DEFAULT SETTINGS ARE NOT MEANT TO BE TAKEN STRAIGHT INTO PRODUCTION
+## see https://www.rabbitmq.com/configure.html for further information
+## on configuring RabbitMQ
+
+## allow access to the guest user from anywhere on the network
+## https://www.rabbitmq.com/access-control.html#loopback-users
+## https://www.rabbitmq.com/production-checklist.html#users
+loopback_users.guest = false
diff --git a/3.9-rc/alpine/10-default-guest-user.conf b/3.9-rc/alpine/10-default-guest-user.conf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3d905739
--- /dev/null
+++ b/3.9-rc/alpine/10-default-guest-user.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+## DEFAULT SETTINGS ARE NOT MEANT TO BE TAKEN STRAIGHT INTO PRODUCTION
+## see https://www.rabbitmq.com/configure.html for further information
+## on configuring RabbitMQ
+
+## allow access to the guest user from anywhere on the network
+## https://www.rabbitmq.com/access-control.html#loopback-users
+## https://www.rabbitmq.com/production-checklist.html#users
+loopback_users.guest = false
diff --git a/3.9-rc/alpine/Dockerfile b/3.9-rc/alpine/Dockerfile
index e96543da..d0fc7d75 100644
--- a/3.9-rc/alpine/Dockerfile
+++ b/3.9-rc/alpine/Dockerfile
@@ -254,6 +254,7 @@ VOLUME $RABBITMQ_DATA_DIR
 # https://docs.docker.com/samples/library/ubuntu/#locales
 ENV LANG=C.UTF-8 LANGUAGE=C.UTF-8 LC_ALL=C.UTF-8
 
+COPY --chown=rabbitmq:rabbitmq 10-default-guest-user.conf /etc/rabbitmq/conf.d/
 COPY docker-entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/
 ENTRYPOINT ["docker-entrypoint.sh"]
 
diff --git a/3.9-rc/ubuntu/10-default-guest-user.conf b/3.9-rc/ubuntu/10-default-guest-user.conf
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3d905739
--- /dev/null
+++ b/3.9-rc/ubuntu/10-default-guest-user.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+## DEFAULT SETTINGS ARE NOT MEANT TO BE TAKEN STRAIGHT INTO PRODUCTION
+## see https://www.rabbitmq.com/configure.html for further information
+## on configuring RabbitMQ
+
+## allow access to the guest user from anywhere on the network
+## https://www.rabbitmq.com/access-control.html#loopback-users
+## https://www.rabbitmq.com/production-checklist.html#users
+loopback_users.guest = false
diff --git a/3.9-rc/ubuntu/Dockerfile b/3.9-rc/ubuntu/Dockerfile
index 2cd8881d..4014ca35 100644
--- a/3.9-rc/ubuntu/Dockerfile
+++ b/3.9-rc/ubuntu/Dockerfile
@@ -272,6 +272,7 @@ VOLUME $RABBITMQ_DATA_DIR
 # https://docs.docker.com/samples/library/ubuntu/#locales
 ENV LANG=C.UTF-8 LANGUAGE=C.UTF-8 LC_ALL=C.UTF-8
 
+COPY --chown=rabbitmq:rabbitmq 10-default-guest-user.conf /etc/rabbitmq/conf.d/
 COPY docker-entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/
 ENTRYPOINT ["docker-entrypoint.sh"]
 
diff --git a/Dockerfile-alpine.template b/Dockerfile-alpine.template
index a90ca289..f90cd502 100644
--- a/Dockerfile-alpine.template
+++ b/Dockerfile-alpine.template
@@ -270,6 +270,9 @@ VOLUME $RABBITMQ_DATA_DIR
 # https://docs.docker.com/samples/library/ubuntu/#locales
 ENV LANG=C.UTF-8 LANGUAGE=C.UTF-8 LC_ALL=C.UTF-8
 
+{{ if ([ "3.8", "3.8-rc" ] | index(env.version)) then "" else ( -}}
+COPY --chown=rabbitmq:rabbitmq 10-default-guest-user.conf /etc/rabbitmq/conf.d/
+{{ ) end -}}
 COPY docker-entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/
 ENTRYPOINT ["docker-entrypoint.sh"]
 
diff --git a/Dockerfile-ubuntu.template b/Dockerfile-ubuntu.template
index 7ebbdf14..dcbcaa56 100644
--- a/Dockerfile-ubuntu.template
+++ b/Dockerfile-ubuntu.template
@@ -288,6 +288,9 @@ VOLUME $RABBITMQ_DATA_DIR
 # https://docs.docker.com/samples/library/ubuntu/#locales
 ENV LANG=C.UTF-8 LANGUAGE=C.UTF-8 LC_ALL=C.UTF-8
 
+{{ if ([ "3.8", "3.8-rc" ] | index(env.version)) then "" else ( -}}
+COPY --chown=rabbitmq:rabbitmq 10-default-guest-user.conf /etc/rabbitmq/conf.d/
+{{ ) end -}}
 COPY docker-entrypoint.sh /usr/local/bin/
 ENTRYPOINT ["docker-entrypoint.sh"]
 
diff --git a/apply-templates.sh b/apply-templates.sh
index 7b593ff4..50e9fce4 100755
--- a/apply-templates.sh
+++ b/apply-templates.sh
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ for version; do
 		fi
 		cp -a "$entrypoint" "$version/$variant/docker-entrypoint.sh"
 
+		if [ "$rcVersion" != '3.8' ]; then
+			cp 10-default-guest-user.conf "$version/$variant/"
+		fi
+
 		if [ "$variant" = 'alpine' ]; then
 			sed -i -e 's/gosu/su-exec/g' "$version/$variant/docker-entrypoint.sh"
 		fi