diff --git a/coreutils.spec b/coreutils.spec
index 5979119..359b1cb 100644
--- a/coreutils.spec
+++ b/coreutils.spec
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 Summary: A set of basic GNU tools commonly used in shell scripts
 Name:    coreutils
 Version: 8.27
-Release: 5%{?dist}
+Release: 5.1%{?dist}
 License: GPLv3+
 Group:   System Environment/Base
 Url:     https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/
 Source0: https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/%{name}/%{name}-%{version}.tar.xz
+Source1: usleep
 Source50:   supported_utils
 Source105:  coreutils-colorls.sh
 Source106:  coreutils-colorls.csh
@@ -171,6 +172,16 @@ Summary:  coreutils common optional components
 Optional though recommended components,
 including documentation and translations.
 
+%package usleep
+# TODO: confilict with initscripts releases containing the usleep binary
+#Conflicts: initscripts < version-release
+Requires: bc
+Requires: %{name}
+Summary:  usleep(1) compatibility wrapper over sleep(1)
+%description usleep
+Compatibility package providing the deprecated usleep(1) utility implemented
+as a wrapper on the of the sleep(1) utility.
+
 %prep
 %autosetup -N
 
@@ -248,6 +259,8 @@ for type in separate single; do
   fi
 done
 
+install -p -v -m755 %SOURCE1 $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{_bindir}
+
 mkdir -p $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{_sysconfdir}/profile.d
 install -p -c -m644 DIR_COLORS{,.256color,.lightbgcolor} \
     $RPM_BUILD_ROOT%{_sysconfdir}
@@ -306,7 +319,13 @@ fi
 %doc ABOUT-NLS NEWS README THANKS TODO
 %license COPYING
 
+%files usleep
+%{_bindir}/usleep
+
 %changelog
+* Fri Apr 28 2017 Kamil Dudka <kdudka@redhat.com> - 8.27-5.1
+- introduce the coreutils-usleep subpackage providing usleep(1) (#1189877)
+
 * Fri Apr 28 2017 Sebastian Kisela <skisela@redhat.com> - 8.27-5
 - tail: revert to polling if a followed directory is replaced
 
diff --git a/usleep b/usleep
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..6dc0c71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/usleep
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# Copyright (C) 2017 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+# print deprecation warning
+warn()
+{
+    echo "$0: warning: usleep(1) is deprecated, use sleep(1) instead!" >&2
+}
+
+# simplified option handling
+for arg; do
+    case $arg in
+        -v|--version)
+            warn
+            sleep --version
+            exit 0
+            ;;
+        -o|--oot|-\?|--help)
+            warn
+            exit 0
+            ;;
+        -*)
+            warn
+            echo "$0: bad argument: $arg" >&2
+            exit 1
+            ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+# check that there is at most one argument
+if [ $# -ge 2 ]; then
+    warn
+    echo "$0: too many arguments: $#" >&2
+fi
+
+# convert microseconds to seconds using bc(1)
+secs="$(printf '%s\n' scale=9 "${1:-1}/1000000" | bc;)"
+
+# use sleep(1) as the actual implementation
+exec sleep "$secs"