diff --git a/Lib/subprocess.py b/Lib/subprocess.py
index fa527d50ebb44d..1f203bd00d3500 100644
--- a/Lib/subprocess.py
+++ b/Lib/subprocess.py
@@ -1494,6 +1494,8 @@ def _execute_child(self, args, executable, preexec_fn, close_fds,
                             raise FileNotFoundError('shell not found: neither %ComSpec% nor %SystemRoot% is set')
                     if os.path.isabs(comspec):
                         executable = comspec
+                else:
+                    comspec = executable
 
                 args = '{} /c "{}"'.format (comspec, args)