diff --git a/apache2/msc_util.c b/apache2/msc_util.c
index c4d49841..fd318a08 100644
--- a/apache2/msc_util.c
+++ b/apache2/msc_util.c
@@ -2850,3 +2850,14 @@ char* strtok_r(
 }
 #endif
 
+// we cannot log an error message as this happens much too often
+char* get_username(apr_pool_t* mp) {
+    char* username;
+    apr_uid_t uid;
+    apr_gid_t gid;
+    int rc = apr_uid_current(&uid, &gid, mp);
+    if (rc != APR_SUCCESS) return "apache";
+    rc = apr_uid_name_get(&username, uid, mp);
+    if (rc != APR_SUCCESS) return "apache";
+    return username;
+}