stopped working: ENV= HOME=~user exec $BASH

[stig]

Configuration Information [Automatically generated, do not change]:
Machine: i386
OS: linux-gnu
Compiler: gcc
Compilation CFLAGS:  -DPROGRAM='bash' -DCONF_HOSTTYPE='i386' 
-DCONF_OSTYPE='linux-gnu' -DCONF_MACHTYPE='i386-redhat-linux-gnu' 
-DCONF_VENDOR='redhat' -DSHELL -DHAVE_CONFIG_H  -D_GNU_SOURCE 
-D_FILE_OFFSET_BITS=64  -I.  -I. -I./include -I./lib -I/usr/include -O2 -m486 
-fno-strength-reduce
uname output: Linux jato.hackvan.com 2.2.16-3 #1 Mon Jun 19 19:11:44 EDT 2000 
i686 unknown
Machine Type: i386-redhat-linux-gnu

Bash Version: 2.04
Patch Level: 21
Release Status: release

Description:

 i like to use my own environment as root.  
 for a long time, i've used the /root/.bashrc incantation:
   ENV= HOME=~stig exec $BASH;
 do do this.

 with bash2 it stopped working.  
 it works from the command prompt, but not from .bashrc !!!!!

 now i get an endless loop.
 strace reports it's all sigmask stuff

        rt_sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, ~[], [], 8)   = 0
        rt_sigprocmask(SIG_SETMASK, [], NULL, 8) = 0
        rt_sigprocmask(SIG_BLOCK, ~[], [], 8)   = 0

Repeat-By:

 exec $BASH in .bashrc (i do it with HOME != ~`logname`)