diff --git a/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/shield/ShieldIntegration.java b/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/shield/ShieldIntegration.java
index e0d084b9f87..eec5b59046f 100644
--- a/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/shield/ShieldIntegration.java
+++ b/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/shield/ShieldIntegration.java
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.watcher.shield;
 
 import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchException;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.HasContext;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.inject.Inject;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.inject.Injector;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
@@ -51,6 +52,13 @@ public class ShieldIntegration {
         }
     }
 
+    // TODO this is a hack that needs to go away with proper fixes in core
+    public void putUserInContext(HasContext context) {
+        if (userHolder != null) {
+            context.putInContext("_shield_user", ((WatcherUserHolder) userHolder).user);
+        }
+    }
+
     static boolean installed() {
         try {
             ShieldIntegration.class.getClassLoader().loadClass("org.elasticsearch.shield.ShieldPlugin");
diff --git a/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/support/init/proxy/ScriptServiceProxy.java b/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/support/init/proxy/ScriptServiceProxy.java
index edafbfbb6b7..e74b40a41e1 100644
--- a/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/support/init/proxy/ScriptServiceProxy.java
+++ b/watcher/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/support/init/proxy/ScriptServiceProxy.java
@@ -5,8 +5,10 @@
  */
 package org.elasticsearch.watcher.support.init.proxy;
 
+import org.elasticsearch.common.ContextAndHeaderHolder;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.inject.Injector;
 import org.elasticsearch.script.*;
+import org.elasticsearch.watcher.shield.ShieldIntegration;
 import org.elasticsearch.watcher.support.Script;
 import org.elasticsearch.watcher.support.init.InitializingService;
 
@@ -19,6 +21,7 @@ import java.util.Map;
 public class ScriptServiceProxy implements InitializingService.Initializable {
 
     private ScriptService service;
+    private ContextAndHeaderHolder contextAndHeaderHolder = new ContextAndHeaderHolder();
 
     /**
      * Creates a proxy to the given script service (can be used for testing)
@@ -32,6 +35,10 @@ public class ScriptServiceProxy implements InitializingService.Initializable {
     @Override
     public void init(Injector injector) {
         this.service = injector.getInstance(ScriptService.class);
+        ShieldIntegration shieldIntegration = injector.getInstance(ShieldIntegration.class);
+        if (shieldIntegration != null) {
+            shieldIntegration.putUserInContext(contextAndHeaderHolder);
+        }
     }
 
     public CompiledScript compile(Script script) {
@@ -39,7 +46,7 @@ public class ScriptServiceProxy implements InitializingService.Initializable {
     }
 
     public CompiledScript compile(org.elasticsearch.script.Script script) {
-        return service.compile(script, WatcherScriptContext.CTX);
+        return service.compile(script, WatcherScriptContext.CTX, contextAndHeaderHolder);
     }
 
     public ExecutableScript executable(CompiledScript compiledScript, Map<String, Object> vars) {
@@ -48,7 +55,7 @@ public class ScriptServiceProxy implements InitializingService.Initializable {
 
 
     public ExecutableScript executable(org.elasticsearch.script.Script script) {
-        return service.executable(script, WatcherScriptContext.CTX);
+        return service.executable(script, WatcherScriptContext.CTX, contextAndHeaderHolder);
     }
 
     public static final ScriptContext.Plugin INSTANCE = new ScriptContext.Plugin("elasticsearch-watcher", "watch");