diff --git a/include/libbb.h b/include/libbb.h
index e0541a731..e1a6d120b 100644
--- a/include/libbb.h
+++ b/include/libbb.h
@@ -377,6 +377,7 @@ void xsetuid(uid_t uid) FAST_FUNC;
 void xchdir(const char *path) FAST_FUNC;
 void xchroot(const char *path) FAST_FUNC;
 void xsetenv(const char *key, const char *value) FAST_FUNC;
+void bb_unsetenv(const char *key) FAST_FUNC;
 void xunlink(const char *pathname) FAST_FUNC;
 void xstat(const char *pathname, struct stat *buf) FAST_FUNC;
 int xopen(const char *pathname, int flags) FAST_FUNC FAST_FUNC;
diff --git a/libbb/xfuncs_printf.c b/libbb/xfuncs_printf.c
index 108e14043..46ae7ac60 100644
--- a/libbb/xfuncs_printf.c
+++ b/libbb/xfuncs_printf.c
@@ -333,6 +333,29 @@ void FAST_FUNC xsetenv(const char *key, const char *value)
 		bb_error_msg_and_die(bb_msg_memory_exhausted);
 }
 
+/* Handles "VAR=VAL" strings, even those which are part of environ
+ * _right now_
+ */
+void FAST_FUNC bb_unsetenv(const char *var)
+{
+	char *tp = strchr(var, '=');
+
+	if (!tp) {
+		unsetenv(var);
+		return;
+	}
+
+	/* In case var was putenv'ed, we can't replace '='
+	 * with NUL and unsetenv(var) - it won't work,
+	 * env is modified by the replacement, unsetenv
+	 * sees "VAR" instead of "VAR=VAL" and does not remove it!
+	 * horror :( */
+	tp = xstrndup(var, tp - var);
+	unsetenv(tp);
+	free(tp);
+}
+
+
 // Die with an error message if we can't set gid.  (Because resource limits may
 // limit this user to a given number of processes, and if that fills up the
 // setgid() will fail and we'll _still_be_root_, which is bad.)
diff --git a/miscutils/crond.c b/miscutils/crond.c
index 732fbb147..12560fa36 100644
--- a/miscutils/crond.c
+++ b/miscutils/crond.c
@@ -252,14 +252,12 @@ int crond_main(int argc UNUSED_PARAM, char **argv)
 /* We set environment *before* vfork (because we want to use vfork),
  * so we cannot use setenv() - repeated calls to setenv() may leak memory!
  * Using putenv(), and freeing memory after unsetenv() won't leak */
-static void safe_setenv4(char **pvar_val, const char *var, const char *val /*, int len*/)
+static void safe_setenv(char **pvar_val, const char *var, const char *val)
 {
-	const int len = 4; /* both var names are 4 char long */
 	char *var_val = *pvar_val;
 
 	if (var_val) {
-		var_val[len] = '\0'; /* nuke '=' */
-		unsetenv(var_val);
+		bb_unsetenv(var_val);
 		free(var_val);
 	}
 	*pvar_val = xasprintf("%s=%s", var, val);
@@ -270,10 +268,10 @@ static void safe_setenv4(char **pvar_val, const char *var, const char *val /*, i
 static void SetEnv(struct passwd *pas)
 {
 #if SETENV_LEAKS
-	safe_setenv4(&env_var_user, "USER", pas->pw_name);
-	safe_setenv4(&env_var_home, "HOME", pas->pw_dir);
+	safe_setenv(&env_var_user, "USER", pas->pw_name);
+	safe_setenv(&env_var_home, "HOME", pas->pw_dir);
 	/* if we want to set user's shell instead: */
-	/*safe_setenv(env_var_user, "SHELL", pas->pw_shell, 5);*/
+	/*safe_setenv(env_var_user, "SHELL", pas->pw_shell);*/
 #else
 	xsetenv("USER", pas->pw_name);
 	xsetenv("HOME", pas->pw_dir);
diff --git a/networking/tcpudp.c b/networking/tcpudp.c
index 3b73f213f..55a3e0899 100644
--- a/networking/tcpudp.c
+++ b/networking/tcpudp.c
@@ -85,8 +85,7 @@ static void undo_xsetenv(void)
 	char **pp = env_cur = &env_var[0];
 	while (*pp) {
 		char *var = *pp;
-		*strchrnul(var, '=') = '\0';
-		unsetenv(var);
+		bb_unsetenv(var);
 		free(var);
 		*pp++ = NULL;
 	}
diff --git a/networking/udhcp/script.c b/networking/udhcp/script.c
index 4ae17fb8d..5d42a45db 100644
--- a/networking/udhcp/script.c
+++ b/networking/udhcp/script.c
@@ -119,7 +119,8 @@ static char *alloc_fill_opts(uint8_t *option, const struct dhcp_option *type_p,
 		}
 		option += optlen;
 		len -= optlen;
-		if (len <= 0) break;
+		if (len <= 0)
+			break;
 		dest += sprintf(dest, " ");
 	}
 	return ret;
@@ -130,9 +131,8 @@ static char *alloc_fill_opts(uint8_t *option, const struct dhcp_option *type_p,
 static char **fill_envp(struct dhcpMessage *packet)
 {
 	int num_options = 0;
-	int i, j;
-	char **envp;
-	char *var;
+	int i;
+	char **envp, **curr;
 	const char *opt_name;
 	uint8_t *temp;
 	char over = 0;
@@ -156,21 +156,16 @@ static char **fill_envp(struct dhcpMessage *packet)
 			num_options++;
 	}
 
-	envp = xzalloc(sizeof(char *) * (num_options + 5));
-	j = 0;
-	envp[j++] = xasprintf("interface=%s", client_config.interface);
-	var = getenv("PATH");
-	if (var)
-		envp[j++] = xasprintf("PATH=%s", var);
-	var = getenv("HOME");
-	if (var)
-		envp[j++] = xasprintf("HOME=%s", var);
+	curr = envp = xzalloc(sizeof(char *) * (num_options + 3));
+	*curr = xasprintf("interface=%s", client_config.interface);
+	putenv(*curr++);
 
 	if (packet == NULL)
 		return envp;
 
-	envp[j] = xmalloc(sizeof("ip=255.255.255.255"));
-	sprintip(envp[j++], "ip=", (uint8_t *) &packet->yiaddr);
+	*curr = xmalloc(sizeof("ip=255.255.255.255"));
+	sprintip(*curr, "ip=", (uint8_t *) &packet->yiaddr);
+	putenv(*curr++);
 
 	opt_name = dhcp_option_strings;
 	i = 0;
@@ -178,31 +173,36 @@ static char **fill_envp(struct dhcpMessage *packet)
 		temp = get_option(packet, dhcp_options[i].code);
 		if (!temp)
 			goto next;
-		envp[j++] = alloc_fill_opts(temp, &dhcp_options[i], opt_name);
+		*curr = alloc_fill_opts(temp, &dhcp_options[i], opt_name);
+		putenv(*curr++);
 
 		/* Fill in a subnet bits option for things like /24 */
 		if (dhcp_options[i].code == DHCP_SUBNET) {
 			uint32_t subnet;
 			move_from_unaligned32(subnet, temp);
-			envp[j++] = xasprintf("mask=%d", mton(subnet));
+			*curr = xasprintf("mask=%d", mton(subnet));
+			putenv(*curr++);
 		}
  next:
 		opt_name += strlen(opt_name) + 1;
 		i++;
 	}
 	if (packet->siaddr) {
-		envp[j] = xmalloc(sizeof("siaddr=255.255.255.255"));
-		sprintip(envp[j++], "siaddr=", (uint8_t *) &packet->siaddr);
+		*curr = xmalloc(sizeof("siaddr=255.255.255.255"));
+		sprintip(*curr, "siaddr=", (uint8_t *) &packet->siaddr);
+		putenv(*curr++);
 	}
 	if (!(over & FILE_FIELD) && packet->file[0]) {
 		/* watch out for invalid packets */
 		packet->file[sizeof(packet->file) - 1] = '\0';
-		envp[j++] = xasprintf("boot_file=%s", packet->file);
+		*curr = xasprintf("boot_file=%s", packet->file);
+		putenv(*curr++);
 	}
 	if (!(over & SNAME_FIELD) && packet->sname[0]) {
 		/* watch out for invalid packets */
 		packet->sname[sizeof(packet->sname) - 1] = '\0';
-		envp[j++] = xasprintf("sname=%s", packet->sname);
+		*curr = xasprintf("sname=%s", packet->sname);
+		putenv(*curr++);
 	}
 	return envp;
 }
@@ -211,29 +211,25 @@ static char **fill_envp(struct dhcpMessage *packet)
 /* Call a script with a par file and env vars */
 void FAST_FUNC udhcp_run_script(struct dhcpMessage *packet, const char *name)
 {
-	int pid;
 	char **envp, **curr;
+	char *argv[3];
 
 	if (client_config.script == NULL)
 		return;
 
-	DEBUG("vfork'ing and execle'ing %s", client_config.script);
+	DEBUG("vfork'ing and exec'ing %s", client_config.script);
 
 	envp = fill_envp(packet);
 
 	/* call script */
-// can we use wait4pid(spawn(...)) here?
-	pid = vfork();
-	if (pid < 0) return;
-	if (pid == 0) {
-		/* close fd's? */
-		/* exec script */
-		execle(client_config.script, client_config.script,
-		       name, NULL, envp);
-		bb_perror_msg_and_die("exec %s", client_config.script);
-	}
-	safe_waitpid(pid, NULL, 0);
-	for (curr = envp; *curr; curr++)
+	argv[0] = (char*) client_config.script;
+	argv[1] = (char*) name;
+	argv[2] = NULL;
+	wait4pid(spawn(argv));
+
+	for (curr = envp; *curr; curr++) {
+		bb_unsetenv(*curr);
 		free(*curr);
+	}
 	free(envp);
 }
diff --git a/shell/hush.c b/shell/hush.c
index eafcbb4c9..3b87855b6 100644
--- a/shell/hush.c
+++ b/shell/hush.c
@@ -730,16 +730,8 @@ static void free_strings_and_unsetenv(char **strings, int unset)
 	v = strings;
 	while (*v) {
 		if (unset) {
-			char *copy;
-			/* *strchrnul(*v, '=') = '\0'; -- BAD
-			 * In case *v was putenv'ed, we can't
-			 * unsetenv(*v) after taking out '=':
-			 * it won't work, env is modified by taking out!
-			 * horror :( */
-			copy = xstrndup(*v, strchrnul(*v, '=') - *v);
-			debug_printf_env("unsetenv '%s'\n", copy);
-			unsetenv(copy);
-			free(copy);
+			debug_printf_env("unsetenv '%s'\n", *v);
+			bb_unsetenv(*v);
 		}
 		free(*v++);
 	}
@@ -2937,7 +2929,7 @@ static void unset_local_var(const char *name)
 			 * is ro, and we cannot reach this code on the 1st pass */
 			prev->next = cur->next;
 			debug_printf_env("%s: unsetenv '%s'\n", __func__, cur->varstr);
-			unsetenv(cur->varstr);
+			bb_unsetenv(cur->varstr);
 			if (!cur->max_len)
 				free(cur->varstr);
 			free(cur);
diff --git a/util-linux/mdev.c b/util-linux/mdev.c
index 34cabc934..956de15ae 100644
--- a/util-linux/mdev.c
+++ b/util-linux/mdev.c
@@ -276,8 +276,7 @@ static void make_device(char *path, int delete)
 		putenv(s);
 		if (system(command) == -1)
 			bb_perror_msg_and_die("can't run '%s'", command);
-		s[4] = '\0';
-		unsetenv(s);
+		unsetenv("MDEV");
 		free(s);
 		free(command);
 	}