diff --git a/include/util/command.hpp b/include/util/command.hpp
index b1adcd7c..f6d2cabf 100644
--- a/include/util/command.hpp
+++ b/include/util/command.hpp
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ extern std::list<pid_t> reap;
 
 namespace waybar::util::command {
 
+constexpr int kExecFailureExitCode = 127;
+
 struct res {
   int exit_code;
   std::string out;
@@ -114,7 +116,9 @@ inline FILE* open(const std::string& cmd, int& pid, const std::string& output_na
       setenv("WAYBAR_OUTPUT_NAME", output_name.c_str(), 1);
     }
     execlp("/bin/sh", "sh", "-c", cmd.c_str(), (char*)0);
-    exit(0);
+    const int saved_errno = errno;
+    spdlog::error("execlp(/bin/sh) failed in open: {}", strerror(saved_errno));
+    _exit(kExecFailureExitCode);
   } else {
     ::close(fd[1]);
   }
@@ -162,7 +166,9 @@ inline int32_t forkExec(const std::string& cmd, const std::string& output_name)
       setenv("WAYBAR_OUTPUT_NAME", output_name.c_str(), 1);
     }
     execl("/bin/sh", "sh", "-c", cmd.c_str(), (char*)0);
-    exit(0);
+    const int saved_errno = errno;
+    spdlog::error("execl(/bin/sh) failed in forkExec: {}", strerror(saved_errno));
+    _exit(kExecFailureExitCode);
   } else {
     reap_mtx.lock();
     reap.push_back(pid);