diff --git a/orte/mca/plm/rsh/plm_rsh_component.c b/orte/mca/plm/rsh/plm_rsh_component.c
index 0ad126abac..50d4999405 100644
--- a/orte/mca/plm/rsh/plm_rsh_component.c
+++ b/orte/mca/plm/rsh/plm_rsh_component.c
@@ -258,8 +258,10 @@ static int rsh_component_query(mca_base_module_t **module, int *priority)
     char *tmp;
 
     /* Check if we are under Grid Engine parallel environment by looking at several
-     * environment variables.  If so, setup the path and argv[0]. */
-    if (NULL == mca_plm_rsh_component.agent) {
+     * environment variables.  If so, setup the path and argv[0].
+     * Note that we allow the user to specify the launch agent
+     * even if they are in a Grid Engine environment */
+    if (0 == strcmp(mca_plm_rsh_component.agent, "ssh : rsh")) {
         if (!mca_plm_rsh_component.disable_qrsh &&
             NULL != getenv("SGE_ROOT") && NULL != getenv("ARC") &&
             NULL != getenv("PE_HOSTFILE") && NULL != getenv("JOB_ID")) {
diff --git a/orte/mca/plm/rsh/plm_rsh_module.c b/orte/mca/plm/rsh/plm_rsh_module.c
index ed8b7f2450..00454aba78 100644
--- a/orte/mca/plm/rsh/plm_rsh_module.c
+++ b/orte/mca/plm/rsh/plm_rsh_module.c
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ static const char *orte_plm_rsh_shell_name[7] = {
  */
 static void set_handler_default(int sig);
 static orte_plm_rsh_shell_t find_shell(char *shell);
+static int launch_agent_setup(const char *agent, char *path);
 static void ssh_child(int argc, char **argv) __opal_attribute_noreturn__;
 static int rsh_probe(char *nodename,
                      orte_plm_rsh_shell_t *shell);
@@ -177,14 +178,59 @@ static void process_launch_list(int fd, short args, void *cbdata);
 static int num_in_progress=0;
 static opal_list_t launch_list;
 static opal_event_t launch_event;
+static char *rsh_agent_path=NULL;
+static char **rsh_agent_argv=NULL;
 
 /**
  * Init the module
  */
 static int rsh_init(void)
 {
+    char *tmp;
     int rc;
 
+    /* we were selected, so setup the launch agent */
+    if (mca_plm_rsh_component.using_qrsh) {
+        /* perform base setup for qrsh */
+        asprintf(&tmp, "%s/bin/%s", getenv("SGE_ROOT"), getenv("ARC"));
+        if (ORTE_SUCCESS != (rc = launch_agent_setup("qrsh", tmp))) {
+            ORTE_ERROR_LOG(rc);
+            free(tmp);
+            return rc;
+        }
+        free(tmp);
+        /* automatically add -inherit and grid engine PE related flags */
+        opal_argv_append_nosize(&rsh_agent_argv, "-inherit");
+        /* Don't use the "-noshell" flag as qrsh would have a problem
+         * swallowing a long command */
+        opal_argv_append_nosize(&rsh_agent_argv, "-nostdin");
+        opal_argv_append_nosize(&rsh_agent_argv, "-V");
+        if (0 < opal_output_get_verbosity(orte_plm_base_framework.framework_output)) {
+            opal_argv_append_nosize(&rsh_agent_argv, "-verbose");
+            tmp = opal_argv_join(rsh_agent_argv, ' ');
+            opal_output_verbose(1, orte_plm_base_framework.framework_output,
+                                "%s plm:rsh: using \"%s\" for launching\n",
+                                ORTE_NAME_PRINT(ORTE_PROC_MY_NAME), tmp);
+            free(tmp);
+        }
+    } else if(mca_plm_rsh_component.using_llspawn) {
+        /* perform base setup for llspawn */
+        if (ORTE_SUCCESS != (rc = launch_agent_setup("llspawn", NULL))) {
+            ORTE_ERROR_LOG(rc);
+            return rc;
+        }
+        opal_output_verbose(1, orte_plm_base_framework.framework_output,
+                            "%s plm:rsh: using \"%s\" for launching\n",
+                            ORTE_NAME_PRINT(ORTE_PROC_MY_NAME),
+                            rsh_agent_path);
+    } else {
+        /* not using qrsh or llspawn - use MCA-specified agent */
+        if (ORTE_SUCCESS != (rc = launch_agent_setup(mca_plm_rsh_component.agent, NULL))) {
+            ORTE_ERROR_LOG(rc);
+            return rc;
+        }
+    }
+
     /* point to our launch command */
     if (ORTE_SUCCESS != (rc = orte_state.add_job_state(ORTE_JOB_STATE_LAUNCH_DAEMONS,
                                                        launch_daemons, ORTE_SYS_PRI))) {
@@ -325,8 +371,8 @@ static int setup_launch(int *argcptr, char ***argvptr,
     /*
      * Build argv array
      */
-    argv = opal_argv_copy(mca_plm_rsh_component.agent_argv);
-    argc = opal_argv_count(mca_plm_rsh_component.agent_argv);
+    argv = opal_argv_copy(rsh_agent_argv);
+    argc = opal_argv_count(argv);
     /* if any ssh args were provided, now is the time to add them */
     if (NULL != mca_plm_rsh_component.ssh_args) {
         char **ssh_argv;
@@ -676,7 +722,7 @@ static void ssh_child(int argc, char **argv)
      * about remote launches here
      */
     exec_argv = argv;
-    exec_path = mca_plm_rsh_component.agent_path;
+    exec_path = strdup(rsh_agent_path);
 
     /* Don't let ssh slurp all of our stdin! */
     fdin = open("/dev/null", O_RDWR);
@@ -1331,6 +1377,63 @@ static orte_plm_rsh_shell_t find_shell(char *shell)
     return ORTE_PLM_RSH_SHELL_UNKNOWN;
 }
 
+static int launch_agent_setup(const char *agent, char *path)
+{
+    char *bname;
+    int i;
+
+    /* if no agent was provided, then report not found */
+    if (NULL == mca_plm_rsh_component.agent && NULL == agent) {
+        return ORTE_ERR_NOT_FOUND;
+    }
+
+    /* search for the argv */
+    OPAL_OUTPUT_VERBOSE((5, orte_plm_base_framework.framework_output,
+                         "%s plm:rsh_setup on agent %s path %s",
+                         ORTE_NAME_PRINT(ORTE_PROC_MY_NAME),
+                         (NULL == agent) ? mca_plm_rsh_component.agent : agent,
+                         (NULL == path) ? "NULL" : path));
+    rsh_agent_argv = orte_plm_rsh_search(agent, path);
+
+    if (0 == opal_argv_count(rsh_agent_argv)) {
+        /* nothing was found */
+        return ORTE_ERR_NOT_FOUND;
+    }
+
+    /* see if we can find the agent in the path */
+    rsh_agent_path = opal_path_findv(rsh_agent_argv[0], X_OK, environ, path);
+
+    if (NULL == rsh_agent_path) {
+        /* not an error - just report not found */
+        opal_argv_free(rsh_agent_argv);
+        return ORTE_ERR_NOT_FOUND;
+    }
+
+    bname = opal_basename(rsh_agent_argv[0]);
+    if (NULL != bname && 0 == strcmp(bname, "ssh")) {
+        /* if xterm option was given, add '-X', ensuring we don't do it twice */
+        if (NULL != orte_xterm) {
+            opal_argv_append_unique_nosize(&rsh_agent_argv, "-X", false);
+        } else if (0 >= opal_output_get_verbosity(orte_plm_base_framework.framework_output)) {
+            /* if debug was not specified, and the user didn't explicitly
+             * specify X11 forwarding/non-forwarding, add "-x" if it
+             * isn't already there (check either case)
+             */
+            for (i = 1; NULL != rsh_agent_argv[i]; ++i) {
+                if (0 == strcasecmp("-x", rsh_agent_argv[i])) {
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+            if (NULL == rsh_agent_argv[i]) {
+                opal_argv_append_nosize(&rsh_agent_argv, "-x");
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    /* the caller can append any additional argv's they desire */
+    return ORTE_SUCCESS;
+}
+
 /**
  * Check the Shell variable and system type on the specified node
  */
@@ -1454,15 +1557,10 @@ static int setup_shell(orte_plm_rsh_shell_t *rshell,
         struct passwd *p;
 
         p = getpwuid(getuid());
-        if( NULL == p ) {
-            /* This user is unknown to the system. Therefore, there is no reason we
-             * spawn whatsoever in his name. Give up with a HUGE error message.
-             */
-            orte_show_help( "help-plm-rsh.txt", "unknown-user", true, (int)getuid() );
-            return ORTE_ERR_FATAL;
+        if( NULL != p ) {
+            param = p->pw_shell;
+            local_shell = find_shell(p->pw_shell);
         }
-        param = p->pw_shell;
-        local_shell = find_shell(p->pw_shell);
     }
 #endif