A rotating electric machine drive system includes: a rotating electric machine equipped with: a rotor having one magnetic pole configured by permanent magnets, and a salient pole portion that is magnetically convex in a radial direction; and a stator wound with a multiphase stator winding; an inverter for supplying electric power to the stator winding; and a control unit for controlling energization current of the inverters. The control unit performs energization control of the stator winding such that a fundamental wave current at a fundamental frequency synchronized with a rotational speed of the rotor, and a harmonic current that is triple the fundamental frequency flow in the stator winding, and such that energization of the harmonic current generates a stator magnetic field having a specified lead phase or delay phase with respect to a third-order magnetic field of the rotor.