diff --git a/platform/drupal/cron_key.inc b/platform/drupal/cron_key.inc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e646ec5ac14fa8f4341aeec541bdb078d3e08093
--- /dev/null
+++ b/platform/drupal/cron_key.inc
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+<?php
+
+// Fetch the cron key from the Drupal site and set in a drush context.
+
+// The cron key feature was introduced in Drupal 7, so for lower versions we do
+// nothing.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/platform/drupal/cron_key_7.inc b/platform/drupal/cron_key_7.inc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5191068f92b3d5d00c222760fc5b69ed91d20f45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/platform/drupal/cron_key_7.inc
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+<?php
+
+// Fetch the cron key from the Drupal site and set in a drush context.
+
+drush_set_option('cron_key', variable_get('cron_key', 'drupal'));
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/platform/import.provision.inc b/platform/import.provision.inc
index 2e525eba80bfb9ec99cc636436452321fdb4a2ba..1102b908f3fbf10237c7464f8198390d946a6bad 100644
--- a/platform/import.provision.inc
+++ b/platform/import.provision.inc
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ function drush_provision_drupal_post_provision_import() {
 
     provision_backend_invoke(d()->name, 'provision-verify');
     
-    drush_set_option('cron_key', provision_drupal_fetch_cron_key());
+    drush_include_engine('drupal', 'cron_key');
 
     provision_reload_config('site');
   }
diff --git a/platform/install.provision.inc b/platform/install.provision.inc
index d11a4f11f9ba8727fc53726d9068700a21fa8adc..f920a97f889cf88888c06014d7efd3e14d20ef3b 100644
--- a/platform/install.provision.inc
+++ b/platform/install.provision.inc
@@ -73,6 +73,6 @@ function drush_provision_drupal_post_provision_install() {
   _provision_drupal_rebuild_caches();
   drush_set_option('packages', _scrub_object(provision_drupal_system_map()), 'site');
   _provision_client_create_symlink();
-  drush_set_option('cron_key', provision_drupal_fetch_cron_key());
+  drush_include_engine('drupal', 'cron_key');
 }
 
diff --git a/platform/provision_drupal.drush.inc b/platform/provision_drupal.drush.inc
index 4b301bdeca679adcacc6f51ac366d206b83a90f1..071806e8d3fe20f48df1355799e054d597b73d45 100644
--- a/platform/provision_drupal.drush.inc
+++ b/platform/provision_drupal.drush.inc
@@ -35,10 +35,11 @@ function provision_drupal_drush_help($section) {
 
 function provision_drupal_drush_engine_drupal() {
   $engines = array();
-  $engines['install'] = array();
-  $engines['import'] = array();
-  $engines['deploy'] = array();
   $engines['clear'] = array();
+  $engines['cron_key'] = array();
+  $engines['deploy'] = array();
+  $engines['import'] = array();
+  $engines['install'] = array();
   $engines['packages'] = array();
   $engines['verify'] = array();
   return $engines;
@@ -741,20 +742,3 @@ function _provision_client_delete_symlink() {
       ->fail('Failed to delete symlink @path: @reason');
   }
 }
-
-/**
- * Fetch the cron key for the currently bootstrapped Drupal site.
- *
- * @return
- *   The cron key for the site, may be an empty string on older versions of
- *   Drupal.
- */
-function provision_drupal_fetch_cron_key() {
-  $key = '';
-  if (drush_drupal_major_version() >= 7) {
-    $key = variable_get('cron_key', 'drupal');
-  }
-
-  return $key;
-}
-
diff --git a/platform/verify.provision.inc b/platform/verify.provision.inc
index fa22ccbb218b3ed5f6363f36b0b6dbaede095be0..4864859af9da62400944daff608e88a0468b071b 100644
--- a/platform/verify.provision.inc
+++ b/platform/verify.provision.inc
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ function drush_provision_drupal_post_provision_verify() {
     drush_set_option('installed', TRUE, 'site');
 
     _provision_client_create_symlink();
-    drush_set_option('cron_key', provision_drupal_fetch_cron_key());
+    drush_include_engine('drupal', 'cron_key');
   }
 }