diff --git a/roles/badges-backend/files/cron/award-libravatar-badge.cron b/roles/badges-backend/files/cron/award-libravatar-badge.cron
index 4347d33b13..26f6f5fbfa 100644
--- a/roles/badges-backend/files/cron/award-libravatar-badge.cron
+++ b/roles/badges-backend/files/cron/award-libravatar-badge.cron
@@ -1 +1 @@
-58 * * * * fedmsg /usr/share/badges/cronjobs/award-libravatar-badge > /var/log/fedmsg/award-libravatar-badge-cron.log 2>&1
+40 * * * * fedmsg /usr/share/badges/cronjobs/award-libravatar-badge > /var/log/fedmsg/award-libravatar-badge-cron.log 2>&1
diff --git a/roles/badges-backend/tasks/main.yml b/roles/badges-backend/tasks/main.yml
index 42780042ba..93c8eb07af 100644
--- a/roles/badges-backend/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/badges-backend/tasks/main.yml
@@ -55,6 +55,16 @@
   notify:
   - restart fedmsg-hub
 
+- name: ensure the fedmsg user has a homedir for cron to work
+  file: >
+    state=directory
+    path=/usr/share/fedmsg
+    mode=700
+    owner=fedmsg
+    group=fedmsg
+  tags:
+  - config
+  - cron
 
 - name: ensure badges cron directories exist
   file: >