diff --git a/src/proc.ts b/src/proc.ts
index fb4bf0973..4b47b2820 100644
--- a/src/proc.ts
+++ b/src/proc.ts
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ export interface ExecutionResult {
 
 export interface ExecutionOptions {
     environment?: Environment;
-    shell?: boolean;
+    shell?: boolean | string;
     silent?: boolean;
     cwd?: string;
     encoding?: BufferEncoding;
@@ -113,6 +113,18 @@ export function buildCmdStr(command: string, args?: string[]): string {
     return cmdarr.map(a => /[ \n\r\f;\t]/.test(a) ? `"${a}"` : a).join(' ');
 }
 
+export function determineShell(command: string): string | boolean {
+    if (command.endsWith('.cmd') || command.endsWith('.bat')) {
+        return 'cmd';
+    }
+
+    if (command.endsWith('.ps1')) {
+        return 'powershell';
+    }
+
+    return false;
+}
+
 /**
  * Execute a command and return the result
  * @param command The binary to execute
@@ -146,9 +158,10 @@ export function execute(command: string, args?: string[], outputConsumer?: Outpu
             log.debug(localize('execution.environment', '  with environment: {0}', JSON.stringify(final_env)));
         }
     }
+
     const spawn_opts: proc.SpawnOptions = {
         env: final_env,
-        shell: !!options.shell
+        shell: options.shell ?? determineShell(command)
     };
     if (options?.cwd !== undefined) {
         util.createDirIfNotExistsSync(options.cwd);