diff --git a/library/cron b/library/cron
index ebd3b6cb078..73eca78903b 100644
--- a/library/cron
+++ b/library/cron
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ updates: Mike Grozak
 
 import re
 import tempfile
+import os
 
 def get_jobs_file(module, user, tmpfile, cron_file):
     if cron_file:
@@ -143,11 +144,19 @@ def get_jobs_file(module, user, tmpfile, cron_file):
 
 def install_jobs(module, user, tmpfile, cron_file):
     if cron_file:
-        cmd = "ln -f %s /etc/cron.d/%s" % (tmpfile, cron_file) 
+        cron_file = '/etc/cron.d/%s' % cron_file
+        try:
+            module.atomic_replace(tmpfile, cron_file)
+        except (OSError, IOError), e:
+            return (1, "", str(e))   
+        except:
+            return (1, "", str(e))
+        else:
+            return (0, "", "")
+
     else:
         cmd = "crontab %s %s" % (user, tmpfile)
-
-    return module.run_command(cmd)
+        return module.run_command(cmd)
 
 def get_jobs(tmpfile):
     lines = open(tmpfile).read().splitlines()