diff --git a/usr.sbin/cron/cron/cron.h b/usr.sbin/cron/cron/cron.h
index c125874686fc..1effde41fe77 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/cron/cron/cron.h
+++ b/usr.sbin/cron/cron/cron.h
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ user		*load_user __P((int, struct passwd *, char *)),
 entry		*load_entry __P((FILE *, void (*)(),
 				 struct passwd *, char **));
 
-FILE		*cron_popen __P((char *, char *));
+FILE		*cron_popen __P((char *, char *, entry *));
 
 
 				/* in the C tradition, we only create
diff --git a/usr.sbin/cron/cron/do_command.c b/usr.sbin/cron/cron/do_command.c
index 009d21ba8c12..1e65b4189830 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/cron/cron/do_command.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/cron/cron/do_command.c
@@ -418,11 +418,11 @@ child_process(e, u)
 				(void) gethostname(hostname, MAXHOSTNAMELEN);
 				(void) snprintf(mailcmd, sizeof(mailcmd),
 					       MAILARGS, MAILCMD);
-				if (!(mail = cron_popen(mailcmd, "w"))) {
+				if (!(mail = cron_popen(mailcmd, "w", e))) {
 					warn("%s", MAILCMD);
 					(void) _exit(ERROR_EXIT);
 				}
-				fprintf(mail, "From: root (Cron Daemon)\n");
+				fprintf(mail, "From: %s (Cron Daemon)\n", usernm);
 				fprintf(mail, "To: %s\n", mailto);
 				fprintf(mail, "Subject: Cron <%s@%s> %s\n",
 					usernm, first_word(hostname, "."),
diff --git a/usr.sbin/cron/cron/popen.c b/usr.sbin/cron/cron/popen.c
index e0861f5614b2..56f85e71d479 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/cron/cron/popen.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/cron/cron/popen.c
@@ -34,6 +34,12 @@ static const char rcsid[] =
 #include "cron.h"
 #include <sys/signal.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
+#if defined(SYSLOG)
+# include <syslog.h>
+#endif
+#if defined(LOGIN_CAP)
+# include <login_cap.h>
+#endif
 
 
 #define MAX_ARGS 100
@@ -48,14 +54,20 @@ static PID_T *pids;
 static int fds;
 
 FILE *
-cron_popen(program, type)
+cron_popen(program, type, e)
 	char *program, *type;
+	entry *e;
 {
 	register char *cp;
 	FILE *iop;
 	int argc, pdes[2];
 	PID_T pid;
+	char *usernm;
 	char *argv[MAX_ARGS + 1];
+# if defined(LOGIN_CAP)
+	struct passwd	*pwd;
+	login_cap_t *lc;
+# endif
 #if WANT_GLOBBING
 	char **pop, *vv[2];
 	int gargc;
@@ -106,6 +118,15 @@ cron_popen(program, type)
 		goto pfree;
 		/* NOTREACHED */
 	case 0:				/* child */
+		if (e != NULL) {
+#ifdef SYSLOG
+			closelog();
+#endif
+
+			/* get new pgrp, void tty, etc.
+			 */
+			(void) setsid();
+		}
 		if (*type == 'r') {
 			/* Do not share our parent's stdin */
 			(void)close(0);
@@ -128,6 +149,42 @@ cron_popen(program, type)
 			(void)open("/dev/null", O_RDWR);
 			(void)close(pdes[1]);
 		}
+# if defined(LOGIN_CAP)
+		if (e != NULL) {
+			/* Set user's entire context, but skip the environment
+			 * as cron provides a separate interface for this
+			 */
+			usernm = env_get("LOGNAME", e->envp);
+			if ((pwd = getpwnam(usernm)) == NULL)
+				pwd = getpwuid(e->uid);
+			lc = NULL;
+			if (pwd != NULL) {
+				pwd->pw_gid = e->gid;
+				if (e->class != NULL)
+					lc = login_getclass(e->class);
+			}
+			if (pwd &&
+			    setusercontext(lc, pwd, e->uid,
+				    LOGIN_SETALL & ~(LOGIN_SETPATH|LOGIN_SETENV)) == 0)
+				(void) endpwent();
+			else {
+				/* fall back to the old method */
+				(void) endpwent();
+# endif
+				/* set our directory, uid and gid.  Set gid first,
+				 * since once we set uid, we've lost root privledges.
+				 */
+				setgid(e->gid);
+# if defined(BSD)
+				initgroups(usernm, e->gid);
+# endif
+				setlogin(usernm);
+				setuid(e->uid);         /* we aren't root after this..*/
+#if defined(LOGIN_CAP)
+			}
+#endif
+			chdir(env_get("HOME", e->envp));
+		}
 #if WANT_GLOBBING
 		execvp(gargv[0], gargv);
 #else