diff --git a/docs/running.rst b/docs/running.rst
index 58508477bd..911ada88ea 100644
--- a/docs/running.rst
+++ b/docs/running.rst
@@ -567,6 +567,8 @@ All handlers accept the following set of attributes (keys) in their configuratio
   - ``check_stagedir``: The stage directory associated with the currently executing test.
   - ``check_system``: The host system where this test is currently executing.
   - ``check_tags``: The tags associated with this test.
+  - ``osuser``: The name of the OS user running ReFrame.
+  - ``osgroup``: The group name of the OS user running ReFrame.
   - ``version``: The ReFrame version.
 
 * ``datefmt`` (default: ``'%FT%T'``) The format that will be used for outputting timestamps (i.e., the ``%(asctime)s`` field).
diff --git a/reframe/core/logging.py b/reframe/core/logging.py
index cc165d0924..7ed149c0fe 100644
--- a/reframe/core/logging.py
+++ b/reframe/core/logging.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 
 import reframe
 import reframe.core.debug as debug
+import reframe.utility.os_ext as os_ext
 from reframe.core.exceptions import ConfigError, LoggingError
 
 
@@ -343,6 +344,8 @@ def __init__(self, logger=None, check=None):
                 'check_perf_ref': None,
                 'check_perf_lower_thres': None,
                 'check_perf_upper_thres': None,
+                'osuser':  os_ext.osuser()  or '<unknown>',
+                'osgroup': os_ext.osgroup() or '<unknown>',
                 'check_tags': None,
                 'version': reframe.VERSION,
             }
@@ -388,7 +391,7 @@ def log_performance(self, level, tag, value, ref,
         self.extra['check_perf_lower_thres'] = low_thres
         self.extra['check_perf_upper_thres'] = upper_thres
         if msg is None:
-            msg = 'sent by ' + os.environ['USER']
+            msg = 'sent by ' + self.extra['osuser']
 
         self.log(level, msg)
 
diff --git a/reframe/frontend/cli.py b/reframe/frontend/cli.py
index b70659f4e7..816702d4cf 100644
--- a/reframe/frontend/cli.py
+++ b/reframe/frontend/cli.py
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ def main():
     # Print command line
     printer.info('Command line: %s' % ' '.join(sys.argv))
     printer.info('Reframe version: '  + reframe.VERSION)
-    printer.info('Launched by user: ' + os.environ['USER'])
+    printer.info('Launched by user: ' + (os_ext.osuser() or '<unknown>'))
     printer.info('Launched on host: ' + socket.gethostname())
 
     # Print important paths
diff --git a/reframe/frontend/printer.py b/reframe/frontend/printer.py
index 442644fa45..407d240616 100644
--- a/reframe/frontend/printer.py
+++ b/reframe/frontend/printer.py
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ def warning(self, msg):
     def error(self, msg):
         msg = AnsiColorizer.colorize('%s: %s' % (sys.argv[0], msg),
                                      AnsiColorizer.red)
-        self._logger.error('%s: %s' % (sys.argv[0], msg))
+        self._logger.error(msg)
 
     def log_config(self, options):
         opt_list = ['    %s=%s' % (attr, val)
diff --git a/reframe/utility/os_ext.py b/reframe/utility/os_ext.py
index 1330b4aaa8..befb2ec5ae 100644
--- a/reframe/utility/os_ext.py
+++ b/reframe/utility/os_ext.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 # OS and shell utility functions
 #
 
+import getpass
+import grp
 import os
 import re
 import shlex
@@ -13,7 +15,6 @@
 
 from reframe.core.exceptions import (ReframeError, SpawnedProcessError,
                                      SpawnedProcessTimeout)
-from reframe.core.logging import getlogger
 
 
 def run_command(cmd, check=False, timeout=None, shell=False):
@@ -63,6 +64,9 @@ def run_command_async(cmd,
                       stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
                       shell=False,
                       **popen_args):
+    # Import logger here to avoid unnecessary circular dependencies
+    from reframe.core.logging import getlogger
+
     getlogger().debug('executing OS command: ' + cmd)
     if not shell:
         cmd = shlex.split(cmd)
@@ -75,6 +79,28 @@ def run_command_async(cmd,
                             **popen_args)
 
 
+def osuser():
+    """Return the name of the current OS user.
+
+    If the name cannot be retrieved, :class:`None` will be returned.
+    """
+    try:
+        return getpass.getuser()
+    except BaseException:
+        return None
+
+
+def osgroup():
+    """Return the group name of the current OS user.
+
+    If the name cannot be retrieved, :class:`None` will be returned.
+    """
+    try:
+        return grp.getgrgid(os.getgid()).gr_name
+    except KeyError:
+        return None
+
+
 def copytree(src, dst, symlinks=False, ignore=None, copy_function=shutil.copy2,
              ignore_dangling_symlinks=False):
     """Same as shutil.copytree() but valid also if 'dst' exists.