diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/exec.rb b/lib/puppet/type/exec.rb
index fb47b133848..9795f72f404 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/exec.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/exec.rb
@@ -225,6 +225,8 @@ def sync
         Commands must be fully qualified if no path is specified.  Paths
         can be specified as an array or as a '#{File::PATH_SEPARATOR}' separated list."
 
+      defaultto Puppet.runtime[:facter].value('path')
+
       # Support both arrays and colon-separated fields.
       def value=(*values)
         @value = values.flatten.collect { |val|