diff --git a/data/Dockerfiles/dovecot/imapsync_cron.pl b/data/Dockerfiles/dovecot/imapsync_cron.pl
old mode 100755
new mode 100644
index c583e8101..c63769f05
--- a/data/Dockerfiles/dovecot/imapsync_cron.pl
+++ b/data/Dockerfiles/dovecot/imapsync_cron.pl
@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@ if ($imapsync_running eq 1)
   exit;
 }
 
+sub qqw($) {
+  my @values = split('(?=--)', $_[0]);
+  foreach my $val (@values) {
+    $val=trim($val);
+  }
+  return @values
+}
+
 $run_dir="/tmp";
 $dsn = 'DBI:mysql:database=__DBNAME__;mysql_socket=/var/run/mysqld/mysqld.sock';
 $lock_file = $run_dir . "/imapsync_busy";
@@ -93,6 +101,10 @@ while ($row = $sth->fetchrow_arrayref()) {
   $timeout1            = @$row[19];
   $timeout2            = @$row[20];
 
+  $is_running = $dbh->prepare("UPDATE imapsync SET is_running = 1 WHERE id = ?");
+  $is_running->bind_param( 1, ${id} );
+  $is_running->execute();
+
   if ($enc1 eq "TLS") { $enc1 = "--tls1"; } elsif ($enc1 eq "SSL") { $enc1 = "--ssl1"; } else { undef $enc1; }
 
   my $template = $run_dir . '/imapsync.XXXXXXX';
@@ -102,53 +114,47 @@ while ($row = $sth->fetchrow_arrayref()) {
   print $passfile1 "$password1\n";
   print $passfile2 trim($master_pass) . "\n";
 
-  my $command = "/usr/local/bin/imapsync";
-  $command .= " --tmpdir /tmp";
-  $command .= " --pidfile /tmp/imapsync.pid";
-  $command .= " --nofoldersizes";
-  ($timeout1 gt "0" ? () : ($command .= " --timeout1 ${timeout1}"));
-  ($timeout2 gt "0" ? () : ($command .= " --timeout2 ${timeout2}"));
-  ($exclude eq ""   ? () : ($command .= qq` --exclude ${exclude}`));
-  ($subfolder2 eq "" ? () : ($command .= qq` --subfolder2 ${subfolder2}`));
-  ($maxage eq "0" ? () : ($command .= " --maxage ${maxage}"));
-  ($maxbytespersecond eq "0" ? () : ($command .= " --maxbytespersecond ${maxbytespersecond}"));
-  ($delete2duplicates   ne "1" ? () : ($command .= " --delete2duplicates"));
-  ($subscribeall    ne "1" ? () : ($command .= " --subscribeall"));
-  ($delete1 ne "1" ? () : ($command .= " --delete"));
-  ($delete2 ne "1" ? () : ($command .= " --delete2"));
-  ($automap ne "1" ? () : ($command .= " --automap"));
-  ($skipcrossduplicates ne "1" ? () : ($command .= " --skipcrossduplicates"));
-  (!defined($enc1) ? () : ($command .= " ${enc1}"));
-  $command .= " --host1 ${host1}";
-  $command .= qq` --user1 ${user1}`;
-  $command .= " --passfile1 $passfile1->filename";
-  $command .= " --port1 ${port1}";
-  $command .= " --host2 localhost";
-  $command .= " --user2 ${user2}" . '*' . trim($master_user);
-  $command .= " --passfile2 $passfile2->filename";
-  $command .= " --no-modulesversion";
-  ($custom_params eq "" ? () : ($command .= qq` ${custom_params}`));
+  my @custom_params_a = qqw($custom_params);
+  my $custom_params_ref = \@custom_params_a;
+
+  my $generated_cmds = [ "/usr/local/bin/imapsync",
+  "--tmpdir", "/tmp",
+  "--nofoldersizes",
+  ($timeout1 gt "0" ? () : ('--timeout1', $timeout1)),
+  ($timeout2 gt "0" ? () : ('--timeout2', $timeout2)),
+  ($exclude eq "" ? () : ("--exclude", $exclude)),
+  ($subfolder2 eq "" ? () : ('--subfolder2', $subfolder2)),
+  ($maxage eq "0" ? () : ('--maxage', $maxage)),
+  ($maxbytespersecond eq "0" ? () : ('--maxbytespersecond', $maxbytespersecond)),
+  ($delete2duplicates ne "1" ? () : ('--delete2duplicates')),
+  ($subscribeall  ne "1" ? () : ('--subscribeall')),
+  ($delete1 ne "1" ? () : ('--delete')),
+  ($delete2 ne "1" ? () : ('--delete2')),
+  ($automap ne "1" ? () : ('--automap')),
+  ($skipcrossduplicates ne "1" ? () : ('--skipcrossduplicates')),
+  (!defined($enc1) ? () : ($enc1)),
+  "--host1", $host1,
+  "--user1", $user1,
+  "--passfile1", $passfile1->filename,
+  "--port1", $port1,
+  "--host2", "localhost",
+  "--user2", $user2 . '*' . trim($master_user),
+  "--passfile2", $passfile2->filename,
+  '--no-modulesversion'];
 
   try {
-    $is_running = $dbh->prepare("UPDATE imapsync SET is_running = 1 WHERE id = ?");
-    $is_running->bind_param( 1, ${id} );
-    $is_running->execute();
-    my $stdout = `${command}`
+    run [@$generated_cmds, @$custom_params_ref], '&>', \my $stdout;
     $update = $dbh->prepare("UPDATE imapsync SET returned_text = ?, last_run = NOW(), is_running = 0 WHERE id = ?");
     $update->bind_param( 1, ${stdout} );
     $update->bind_param( 2, ${id} );
     $update->execute();
   } catch {
-    $update = $dbh->prepare("UPDATE imapsync SET returned_text = 'Could not start or finish imapsync' WHERE id = ?");
-    $update->bind_param( 1, ${id} );
-    $update->execute();
-  } finally {
-    $update = $dbh->prepare("UPDATE imapsync SET last_run = NOW(), is_running = 0 WHERE id = ?");
+    $update = $dbh->prepare("UPDATE imapsync SET returned_text = 'Could not start or finish imapsync', last_run = NOW(), is_running = 0 WHERE id = ?");
     $update->bind_param( 1, ${id} );
     $update->execute();
+    $lockmgr->unlock($lock_file);
   };
 
-
 }
 
 $sth->finish();