diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 92530d9a646..aedf20ac4d5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 - Signal/Install: auto-install `signal-cli` via Homebrew on non-x64 Linux architectures, avoiding x86_64 native binary `Exec format error` failures on arm64/arm hosts. (#15443) Thanks @jogvan-k.
 - Discord: avoid misrouting numeric guild allowlist entries to `/channels/<guildId>` by prefixing guild-only inputs with `guild:` during resolution. (#12326) Thanks @headswim.
 - Config: preserve `${VAR}` env references when writing config files so `openclaw config set/apply/patch` does not persist secrets to disk. Thanks @thewilloftheshadow.
+- Process/Exec: avoid shell execution for `.exe` commands on Windows so env overrides work reliably in `runCommandWithTimeout`. Thanks @thewilloftheshadow.
 - Web tools/web_fetch: prefer `text/markdown` responses for Cloudflare Markdown for Agents, add `cf-markdown` extraction for markdown bodies, and redact fetched URLs in `x-markdown-tokens` debug logs to avoid leaking raw paths/query params. (#15376) Thanks @Yaxuan42.
 - Config: keep legacy audio transcription migration strict by rejecting non-string/unsafe command tokens while still migrating valid custom script executables. (#5042) Thanks @shayan919293.
 
diff --git a/src/process/exec.ts b/src/process/exec.ts
index 2670b6fc211..64d217c1034 100644
--- a/src/process/exec.ts
+++ b/src/process/exec.ts
@@ -116,12 +116,15 @@ export async function runCommandWithTimeout(
   }
 
   const stdio = resolveCommandStdio({ hasInput, preferInherit: true });
-  const child = spawn(resolveCommand(argv[0]), argv.slice(1), {
+  const resolvedCommand = resolveCommand(argv[0] ?? "");
+  const commandExt = path.extname(resolvedCommand).toLowerCase();
+  const useShell = process.platform === "win32" && commandExt !== ".exe";
+  const child = spawn(resolvedCommand, argv.slice(1), {
     stdio,
     cwd,
     env: resolvedEnv,
     windowsVerbatimArguments,
-    shell: process.platform === "win32",
+    shell: useShell,
   });
   // Spawn with inherited stdin (TTY) so tools like `pi` stay interactive when needed.
   return await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {