diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/cron-only-get-bin-path-once.yaml b/changelogs/fragments/cron-only-get-bin-path-once.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7a03ff98153
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/cron-only-get-bin-path-once.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+  - cron cronvar - only run ``get_bin_path()`` once
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/system/cron.py b/lib/ansible/modules/system/cron.py
index 4f2cc6393cf..dfad4faa19e 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/system/cron.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/system/cron.py
@@ -235,6 +235,7 @@ class CronTab(object):
         self.lines = None
         self.ansible = "#Ansible: "
         self.existing = ''
+        self.cron_cmd = self.module.get_bin_path('crontab', required=True)
 
         if cron_file:
             if os.path.isabs(cron_file):
@@ -509,30 +510,29 @@ class CronTab(object):
         Returns the command line for reading a crontab
         """
         user = ''
-        cron_cmd = self.module.get_bin_path('crontab', required=True)
         if self.user:
             if platform.system() == 'SunOS':
-                return "su %s -c '%s -l'" % (shlex_quote(self.user), shlex_quote(cron_cmd))
+                return "su %s -c '%s -l'" % (shlex_quote(self.user), shlex_quote(self.cron_cmd))
             elif platform.system() == 'AIX':
-                return "%s -l %s" % (shlex_quote(cron_cmd), shlex_quote(self.user))
+                return "%s -l %s" % (shlex_quote(self.cron_cmd), shlex_quote(self.user))
             elif platform.system() == 'HP-UX':
-                return "%s %s %s" % (cron_cmd, '-l', shlex_quote(self.user))
+                return "%s %s %s" % (self.cron_cmd, '-l', shlex_quote(self.user))
             elif pwd.getpwuid(os.getuid())[0] != self.user:
                 user = '-u %s' % shlex_quote(self.user)
-        return "%s %s %s" % (cron_cmd, user, '-l')
+        return "%s %s %s" % (self.cron_cmd, user, '-l')
 
     def _write_execute(self, path):
         """
         Return the command line for writing a crontab
         """
-        cron_cmd = self.module.get_bin_path('crontab', required=True)
         user = ''
         if self.user:
             if platform.system() in ['SunOS', 'HP-UX', 'AIX']:
-                return "chown %s %s ; su '%s' -c '%s %s'" % (shlex_quote(self.user), shlex_quote(path), shlex_quote(self.user), cron_cmd, shlex_quote(path))
+                return "chown %s %s ; su '%s' -c '%s %s'" % (
+                    shlex_quote(self.user), shlex_quote(path), shlex_quote(self.user), self.cron_cmd, shlex_quote(path))
             elif pwd.getpwuid(os.getuid())[0] != self.user:
                 user = '-u %s' % shlex_quote(self.user)
-        return "%s %s %s" % (cron_cmd, user, shlex_quote(path))
+        return "%s %s %s" % (self.cron_cmd, user, shlex_quote(path))
 
 
 def main():
diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/system/cronvar.py b/lib/ansible/modules/system/cronvar.py
index 22680bf61e8..eb7c7a6b7b0 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/system/cronvar.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/system/cronvar.py
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@ class CronVar(object):
         self.user = user
         self.lines = None
         self.wordchars = ''.join(chr(x) for x in range(128) if chr(x) not in ('=', "'", '"',))
+        self.cron_cmd = self.module.get_bin_path('cronvar', required=True)
 
         if cron_file:
             self.cron_file = ""
@@ -290,32 +291,31 @@ class CronVar(object):
         """
         Returns the command line for reading a crontab
         """
-        cron_cmd = self.module.get_bin_path('crontab', required=True)
         user = ''
 
         if self.user:
             if platform.system() == 'SunOS':
-                return "su %s -c '%s -l'" % (shlex_quote(self.user), shlex_quote(cron_cmd))
+                return "su %s -c '%s -l'" % (shlex_quote(self.user), shlex_quote(self.cron_cmd))
             elif platform.system() == 'AIX':
-                return "%s -l %s" % (shlex_quote(cron_cmd), shlex_quote(self.user))
+                return "%s -l %s" % (shlex_quote(self.cron_cmd), shlex_quote(self.user))
             elif platform.system() == 'HP-UX':
-                return "%s %s %s" % (cron_cmd, '-l', shlex_quote(self.user))
+                return "%s %s %s" % (self.cron_cmd, '-l', shlex_quote(self.user))
             elif pwd.getpwuid(os.getuid())[0] != self.user:
                 user = '-u %s' % shlex_quote(self.user)
-        return "%s %s %s" % (cron_cmd, user, '-l')
+        return "%s %s %s" % (self.cron_cmd, user, '-l')
 
     def _write_execute(self, path):
         """
         Return the command line for writing a crontab
         """
-        cron_cmd = self.module.get_bin_path('crontab', required=True)
         user = ''
         if self.user:
             if platform.system() in ['SunOS', 'HP-UX', 'AIX']:
-                return "chown %s %s ; su '%s' -c '%s %s'" % (shlex_quote(self.user), shlex_quote(path), shlex_quote(self.user), cron_cmd, shlex_quote(path))
+                return "chown %s %s ; su '%s' -c '%s %s'" % (
+                    shlex_quote(self.user), shlex_quote(path), shlex_quote(self.user), self.cron_cmd, shlex_quote(path))
             elif pwd.getpwuid(os.getuid())[0] != self.user:
                 user = '-u %s' % shlex_quote(self.user)
-        return "%s %s %s" % (cron_cmd, user, shlex_quote(path))
+        return "%s %s %s" % (self.cron_cmd, user, shlex_quote(path))
 
 
 # ==================================================