diff --git a/src/os/user/lookup_stubs.go b/src/os/user/lookup_stubs.go
index f7d138ff46..9fc03c65d9 100644
--- a/src/os/user/lookup_stubs.go
+++ b/src/os/user/lookup_stubs.go
@@ -19,8 +19,15 @@ func init() {
 }
 
 func current() (*User, error) {
-	u := &User{
-		Uid:      currentUID(),
+	uid := currentUID()
+	// $USER and /etc/passwd may disagree; prefer the latter if we can get it.
+	// See issue 27524 for more information.
+	u, err := lookupUserId(uid)
+	if err == nil {
+		return u, nil
+	}
+	u = &User{
+		Uid:      uid,
 		Gid:      currentGID(),
 		Username: os.Getenv("USER"),
 		Name:     "", // ignored
diff --git a/src/os/user/user_test.go b/src/os/user/user_test.go
index 8fd760e649..2563077eb2 100644
--- a/src/os/user/user_test.go
+++ b/src/os/user/user_test.go
@@ -5,33 +5,18 @@
 package user
 
 import (
-	"internal/testenv"
-	"os"
 	"runtime"
 	"testing"
 )
 
 func checkUser(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Helper()
 	if !userImplemented {
 		t.Skip("user: not implemented; skipping tests")
 	}
 }
 
 func TestCurrent(t *testing.T) {
-	// The Go builders (in particular the ones using containers)
-	// often have minimal environments without $HOME or $USER set,
-	// which breaks Current which relies on those working as a
-	// fallback.
-	// TODO: we should fix that (Issue 24884) and remove these
-	// workarounds.
-	if testenv.Builder() != "" && runtime.GOOS != "windows" && runtime.GOOS != "plan9" {
-		if os.Getenv("HOME") == "" {
-			os.Setenv("HOME", "/tmp")
-		}
-		if os.Getenv("USER") == "" {
-			os.Setenv("USER", "gobuilder")
-		}
-	}
 	u, err := Current()
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Current: %v (got %#v)", err, u)
@@ -108,6 +93,7 @@ func TestLookupId(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func checkGroup(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Helper()
 	if !groupImplemented {
 		t.Skip("user: group not implemented; skipping test")
 	}