diff --git a/32/apache/cron.sh b/32/apache/cron.sh
index b4cd9af65..b44a543c7 100755
--- a/32/apache/cron.sh
+++ b/32/apache/cron.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -eu
 
-exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout
+crontabs=/var/spool/cron/crontabs
+
+if [ -n "${NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE:-}" ]; then
+	crontabs="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/nextcloud-crontabs"
+	mkdir -p "$crontabs"
+	echo "$NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE php -f /var/www/html/cron.php" > "$crontabs/www-data"
+fi
+
+exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout -c "$crontabs"
diff --git a/32/fpm-alpine/cron.sh b/32/fpm-alpine/cron.sh
index b4cd9af65..b44a543c7 100755
--- a/32/fpm-alpine/cron.sh
+++ b/32/fpm-alpine/cron.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -eu
 
-exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout
+crontabs=/var/spool/cron/crontabs
+
+if [ -n "${NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE:-}" ]; then
+	crontabs="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/nextcloud-crontabs"
+	mkdir -p "$crontabs"
+	echo "$NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE php -f /var/www/html/cron.php" > "$crontabs/www-data"
+fi
+
+exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout -c "$crontabs"
diff --git a/32/fpm/cron.sh b/32/fpm/cron.sh
index b4cd9af65..b44a543c7 100755
--- a/32/fpm/cron.sh
+++ b/32/fpm/cron.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -eu
 
-exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout
+crontabs=/var/spool/cron/crontabs
+
+if [ -n "${NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE:-}" ]; then
+	crontabs="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/nextcloud-crontabs"
+	mkdir -p "$crontabs"
+	echo "$NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE php -f /var/www/html/cron.php" > "$crontabs/www-data"
+fi
+
+exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout -c "$crontabs"
diff --git a/33/apache/cron.sh b/33/apache/cron.sh
index b4cd9af65..b44a543c7 100755
--- a/33/apache/cron.sh
+++ b/33/apache/cron.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -eu
 
-exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout
+crontabs=/var/spool/cron/crontabs
+
+if [ -n "${NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE:-}" ]; then
+	crontabs="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/nextcloud-crontabs"
+	mkdir -p "$crontabs"
+	echo "$NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE php -f /var/www/html/cron.php" > "$crontabs/www-data"
+fi
+
+exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout -c "$crontabs"
diff --git a/33/fpm-alpine/cron.sh b/33/fpm-alpine/cron.sh
index b4cd9af65..b44a543c7 100755
--- a/33/fpm-alpine/cron.sh
+++ b/33/fpm-alpine/cron.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -eu
 
-exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout
+crontabs=/var/spool/cron/crontabs
+
+if [ -n "${NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE:-}" ]; then
+	crontabs="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/nextcloud-crontabs"
+	mkdir -p "$crontabs"
+	echo "$NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE php -f /var/www/html/cron.php" > "$crontabs/www-data"
+fi
+
+exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout -c "$crontabs"
diff --git a/33/fpm/cron.sh b/33/fpm/cron.sh
index b4cd9af65..b44a543c7 100755
--- a/33/fpm/cron.sh
+++ b/33/fpm/cron.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -eu
 
-exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout
+crontabs=/var/spool/cron/crontabs
+
+if [ -n "${NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE:-}" ]; then
+	crontabs="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/nextcloud-crontabs"
+	mkdir -p "$crontabs"
+	echo "$NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE php -f /var/www/html/cron.php" > "$crontabs/www-data"
+fi
+
+exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout -c "$crontabs"
diff --git a/34/apache/cron.sh b/34/apache/cron.sh
index b4cd9af65..b44a543c7 100755
--- a/34/apache/cron.sh
+++ b/34/apache/cron.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -eu
 
-exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout
+crontabs=/var/spool/cron/crontabs
+
+if [ -n "${NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE:-}" ]; then
+	crontabs="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/nextcloud-crontabs"
+	mkdir -p "$crontabs"
+	echo "$NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE php -f /var/www/html/cron.php" > "$crontabs/www-data"
+fi
+
+exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout -c "$crontabs"
diff --git a/34/fpm-alpine/cron.sh b/34/fpm-alpine/cron.sh
index b4cd9af65..b44a543c7 100755
--- a/34/fpm-alpine/cron.sh
+++ b/34/fpm-alpine/cron.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -eu
 
-exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout
+crontabs=/var/spool/cron/crontabs
+
+if [ -n "${NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE:-}" ]; then
+	crontabs="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/nextcloud-crontabs"
+	mkdir -p "$crontabs"
+	echo "$NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE php -f /var/www/html/cron.php" > "$crontabs/www-data"
+fi
+
+exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout -c "$crontabs"
diff --git a/34/fpm/cron.sh b/34/fpm/cron.sh
index b4cd9af65..b44a543c7 100755
--- a/34/fpm/cron.sh
+++ b/34/fpm/cron.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -eu
 
-exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout
+crontabs=/var/spool/cron/crontabs
+
+if [ -n "${NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE:-}" ]; then
+	crontabs="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/nextcloud-crontabs"
+	mkdir -p "$crontabs"
+	echo "$NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE php -f /var/www/html/cron.php" > "$crontabs/www-data"
+fi
+
+exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout -c "$crontabs"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f3fedb5d3..b6bfb7f45 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ A safe home for all your data. Access & share your files, calendars, contacts, m
     - [Custom Data directory (`datadirectory`)](#custom-data-directory-datadirectory)
     - [Trusted domains (`trusted_domains`)](#trusted-domains-trusted_domains)
     - [Image specific](#image-specific)
+    - [Background jobs (`cron.php`)](#background-jobs-cronphp)
     - [Redis Memory Caching](#redis-memory-caching)
     - [E-mail (SMTP) Configuration](#e-mail-smtp-configuration)
     - [Object Storage (Primary Storage)](#object-storage-primary-storage)
@@ -281,6 +282,18 @@ You might want to make sure the htaccess is up to date after each container upda
 
 - `NEXTCLOUD_INIT_HTACCESS` (not set by default) Set it to true to enable run `occ maintenance:update:htaccess` after container initialization.
 
+### Background jobs (`cron.php`)
+
+The images ship a `/cron.sh` entrypoint that runs `php -f /var/www/html/cron.php` every 5 minutes via busybox `crond`. To run the background jobs less often, override the schedule with a standard five-field cron expression:
+
+- `NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE` (default: `*/5 * * * *`) Cron expression for `cron.php`.
+
+```console
+$ docker run -d --volumes-from app -e NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE='*/30 * * * *' --entrypoint /cron.sh nextcloud
+```
+
+Note that Nextcloud's admin overview reports a warning once the last background job ran more than an hour ago, and jobs such as calendar event reminders are delayed by up to one interval. `TZ` applies to the schedule, so it is evaluated in the container's local time.
+
 ### Redis Memory Caching
 
 To use Redis for memory caching as well as PHP session storage, specify the following values and also add a [Redis](https://hub.docker.com/_/redis/) container to your stack. See the [examples](https://github.com/nextcloud/docker/tree/master/.examples) for further instructions.
diff --git a/docker-cron.sh b/docker-cron.sh
index b4cd9af65..b44a543c7 100755
--- a/docker-cron.sh
+++ b/docker-cron.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -eu
 
-exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout
+crontabs=/var/spool/cron/crontabs
+
+if [ -n "${NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE:-}" ]; then
+	crontabs="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/nextcloud-crontabs"
+	mkdir -p "$crontabs"
+	echo "$NEXTCLOUD_CRON_SCHEDULE php -f /var/www/html/cron.php" > "$crontabs/www-data"
+fi
+
+exec busybox crond -f -L /dev/stdout -c "$crontabs"