diff --git a/development/cygwin/lyxprofile b/development/cygwin/lyxprofile
index f51bd556f1..afa21beb41 100644
--- a/development/cygwin/lyxprofile
+++ b/development/cygwin/lyxprofile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # Set up the home directory if not already set in the system environment.
 if [ -z "${HOME}" ]; then
   USER=`id -un`
-  HOME=`grep "^${USER}:" /etc/passwd | cut -d: -f6`
+  HOME=`getent passwd "${USER}" | cut -d: -f6`
   if [ -z "${HOME}" -o ! -d "${HOME}" ]; then
     HOME="/home/${USER}"
     test -d "${HOME}" || HOME=/tmp
diff --git a/status.21x b/status.21x
index 452841120d..716e014951 100644
--- a/status.21x
+++ b/status.21x
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@ What's new
 
 - Fix compatibility issue with 64-bit cygwin.
 
+- On Cygwin, use getent instead of grepping /etc/passwd for determining
+  the user's home directory when launching LyX through the gui wrapper.
+
 
 
 ** Bug fixes: