diff --git a/CRM/Utils/System.php b/CRM/Utils/System.php
index 451454762817100944709c1bd682292a26590887..72946f43eed09f8b64e41fbd54b0fa204b896ef3 100644
--- a/CRM/Utils/System.php
+++ b/CRM/Utils/System.php
@@ -754,18 +754,6 @@ class CRM_Utils_System {
   public static function authenticate($name, $password, $loadCMSBootstrap = FALSE, $realPath = NULL) {
     $config = CRM_Core_Config::singleton();
 
-    /* Before we do any loading, let's start the session and write to it.
-     * We typically call authenticate only when we need to bootstrap the CMS
-     * directly via Civi and hence bypass the normal CMS auth and bootstrap
-     * process typically done in CLI and cron scripts. See: CRM-12648
-     *
-     * Q: Can we move this to the userSystem class so that it can be tuned
-     * per-CMS? For example, when dealing with UnitTests UF, does it need to
-     * do this session write since the original issue was for Drupal.
-     */
-    $session = CRM_Core_Session::singleton();
-    $session->set('civicrmInitSession', TRUE);
-
     return $config->userSystem->authenticate($name, $password, $loadCMSBootstrap, $realPath);
   }
 
diff --git a/CRM/Utils/System/Drupal.php b/CRM/Utils/System/Drupal.php
index 34742a094fd21ef9ae555037df0020a6942b7b48..eebbcf7fa2d49d4ece9130277f4a9c16d371296c 100644
--- a/CRM/Utils/System/Drupal.php
+++ b/CRM/Utils/System/Drupal.php
@@ -315,6 +315,14 @@ class CRM_Utils_System_Drupal extends CRM_Utils_System_DrupalBase {
   public function authenticate($name, $password, $loadCMSBootstrap = FALSE, $realPath = NULL) {
     require_once 'DB.php';
 
+    /* Before we do any loading, let's start the session and write to it.
+     * We typically call authenticate only when we need to bootstrap the CMS
+     * directly via Civi and hence bypass the normal CMS auth and bootstrap
+     * process typically done in CLI and cron scripts. See: CRM-12648
+     */
+    $session = CRM_Core_Session::singleton();
+    $session->set('civicrmInitSession', TRUE);
+
     $config = CRM_Core_Config::singleton();
 
     $ufDSN = CRM_Utils_SQL::autoSwitchDSN($config->userFrameworkDSN);
diff --git a/CRM/Utils/System/Drupal8.php b/CRM/Utils/System/Drupal8.php
index df27c0d9e44a9df355f090d81ddaf813043dc396..605c7ab04cf6ec26c65dee5ddd214b4b73cdc014 100644
--- a/CRM/Utils/System/Drupal8.php
+++ b/CRM/Utils/System/Drupal8.php
@@ -316,6 +316,14 @@ class CRM_Utils_System_Drupal8 extends CRM_Utils_System_DrupalBase {
    * @inheritDoc
    */
   public function authenticate($name, $password, $loadCMSBootstrap = FALSE, $realPath = NULL) {
+    /* Before we do any loading, let's start the session and write to it.
+     * We typically call authenticate only when we need to bootstrap the CMS
+     * directly via Civi and hence bypass the normal CMS auth and bootstrap
+     * process typically done in CLI and cron scripts. See: CRM-12648
+     */
+    $session = CRM_Core_Session::singleton();
+    $session->set('civicrmInitSession', TRUE);
+
     $system = new CRM_Utils_System_Drupal8();
     $system->loadBootStrap([], FALSE);
 
diff --git a/CRM/Utils/System/Joomla.php b/CRM/Utils/System/Joomla.php
index 2d163d17ac34daeb3a415e295fb690cdfdabdb7d..91dd8b6e232c080c52d7d2e57d2bc88d52701bf3 100644
--- a/CRM/Utils/System/Joomla.php
+++ b/CRM/Utils/System/Joomla.php
@@ -325,6 +325,14 @@ class CRM_Utils_System_Joomla extends CRM_Utils_System_Base {
   public function authenticate($name, $password, $loadCMSBootstrap = FALSE, $realPath = NULL) {
     require_once 'DB.php';
 
+    /* Before we do any loading, let's start the session and write to it.
+     * We typically call authenticate only when we need to bootstrap the CMS
+     * directly via Civi and hence bypass the normal CMS auth and bootstrap
+     * process typically done in CLI and cron scripts. See: CRM-12648
+     */
+    $session = CRM_Core_Session::singleton();
+    $session->set('civicrmInitSession', TRUE);
+
     $config = CRM_Core_Config::singleton();
     $user = NULL;
 
diff --git a/CRM/Utils/System/Soap.php b/CRM/Utils/System/Soap.php
index 90a04c6686bfe15f9572a95a179215d59936b160..4c9c6335071a28992ecd291c840f5a8bffa95bae 100644
--- a/CRM/Utils/System/Soap.php
+++ b/CRM/Utils/System/Soap.php
@@ -75,6 +75,14 @@ class CRM_Utils_System_Soap extends CRM_Utils_System_Base {
    * @inheritDoc
    */
   public function authenticate($name, $pass) {
+    /* Before we do any loading, let's start the session and write to it.
+     * We typically call authenticate only when we need to bootstrap the CMS
+     * directly via Civi and hence bypass the normal CMS auth and bootstrap
+     * process typically done in CLI and cron scripts. See: CRM-12648
+     */
+    $session = CRM_Core_Session::singleton();
+    $session->set('civicrmInitSession', TRUE);
+
     if (isset(self::$ufClass)) {
       $className = self::$ufClass;
       $result =& $className::authenticate($name, $pass);
diff --git a/CRM/Utils/System/WordPress.php b/CRM/Utils/System/WordPress.php
index 66942c8ced51695791a94e1916b35f3e5286998f..d5e4e5dabf9e3e4b619dd998329fc3dd2e6021b5 100644
--- a/CRM/Utils/System/WordPress.php
+++ b/CRM/Utils/System/WordPress.php
@@ -542,6 +542,14 @@ class CRM_Utils_System_WordPress extends CRM_Utils_System_Base {
    * @inheritDoc
    */
   public function authenticate($name, $password, $loadCMSBootstrap = FALSE, $realPath = NULL) {
+    /* Before we do any loading, let's start the session and write to it.
+     * We typically call authenticate only when we need to bootstrap the CMS
+     * directly via Civi and hence bypass the normal CMS auth and bootstrap
+     * process typically done in CLI and cron scripts. See: CRM-12648
+     */
+    $session = CRM_Core_Session::singleton();
+    $session->set('civicrmInitSession', TRUE);
+
     $config = CRM_Core_Config::singleton();
 
     if ($loadCMSBootstrap) {