diff --git a/src/bin/antRun b/src/bin/antRun
index ac1a54d05..efc1dc8f9 100644
--- a/src/bin/antRun
+++ b/src/bin/antRun
@@ -10,5 +10,4 @@ if test -e $CMD.sh; then
   CMD="sh $CMD.sh"
 fi
 
-echo $CMD $@
-$CMD $@
+echo $CMD $@ | sh
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Exec.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Exec.java
index 431d52f2f..4d6d68c1f 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Exec.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/Exec.java
@@ -67,12 +67,17 @@ import java.io.*;
 public class Exec extends Task {
     private String os;
     private String out;
-    private String dir;
+    private String dir = ".";
     private String command;
 
     private static final int BUFFER_SIZE = 512;
 
     public void execute() throws BuildException {
+        run(command);
+    }
+
+    protected void run(String command) throws BuildException {
+
         // test if os match
         String myos = System.getProperty("os.name");
         project.log("Myos = " + myos, Project.MSG_VERBOSE);
@@ -89,11 +94,6 @@ public class Exec extends Task {
         if (myos.toLowerCase().indexOf("windows") >= 0) antRun = antRun + ".bat";
         command = antRun + " " + project.resolveFile(dir) + " " + command;
 
-        run(command);
-    }
-
-    protected void run(String command) throws BuildException {
-
         try {
             // show the command
             project.log(command, "exec", Project.MSG_VERBOSE);