diff --git a/system/options.nix b/system/options.nix
index d15c21645458..3e8828fdb735 100644
--- a/system/options.nix
+++ b/system/options.nix
@@ -654,6 +654,11 @@ in
 
     cron = {
 
+      mailto = mkOption {
+        default = "";
+        description = " The job output will be mailed to this email address. ";
+      };
+
       systemCronJobs = mkOption {
         default = [];
         example = [
@@ -663,7 +668,8 @@ in
         description = ''
           A list of Cron jobs to be appended to the system-wide
           crontab.  See the manual page for crontab for the expected
-          format.
+          format. If you want to get the results mailed you must setuid
+          sendmail. See <option>security.setuidOwners</option>
         '';
       };
 
diff --git a/upstart-jobs/cron.nix b/upstart-jobs/cron.nix
index e2212b4c575c..209eb562fa9e 100644
--- a/upstart-jobs/cron.nix
+++ b/upstart-jobs/cron.nix
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ let
   systemCronJobsFile = pkgs.writeText "system-crontab" ''
     SHELL=${pkgs.bash}/bin/sh
     PATH=${pkgs.coreutils}/bin:${pkgs.findutils}/bin:${pkgs.gnused}/bin:${pkgs.su}/bin
-    MAILTO=
+    MAILTO="${config.services.cron.mailto}"
     ${pkgs.lib.concatStrings (map (job: job + "\n") systemCronJobs)}
   '';