diff --git a/lib/libc/gen/exec.c b/lib/libc/gen/exec.c
index 799a89d5c7e3..76c0454600eb 100644
--- a/lib/libc/gen/exec.c
+++ b/lib/libc/gen/exec.c
@@ -215,14 +215,28 @@ retry:		(void)_execve(bp, argv, envp);
 		case ENOEXEC:
 			for (cnt = 0; argv[cnt]; ++cnt)
 				;
-			memp = alloca((cnt + 2) * sizeof(char *));
+
+			/*
+			 * cnt may be 0 above; always allocate at least
+			 * 3 entries so that we can at least fit "sh", bp, and
+			 * the NULL terminator.  We can rely on cnt to take into
+			 * account the NULL terminator in all other scenarios,
+			 * as we drop argv[0].
+			 */
+			memp = alloca(MAX(3, cnt + 2) * sizeof(char *));
 			if (memp == NULL) {
 				/* errno = ENOMEM; XXX override ENOEXEC? */
 				goto done;
 			}
-			memp[0] = "sh";
-			memp[1] = bp;
-			bcopy(argv + 1, memp + 2, cnt * sizeof(char *));
+			if (cnt > 0) {
+				memp[0] = argv[0];
+				memp[1] = bp;
+				bcopy(argv + 1, memp + 2, cnt * sizeof(char *));
+			} else {
+				memp[0] = "sh";
+				memp[1] = bp;
+				memp[2] = NULL;
+			}
  			(void)_execve(_PATH_BSHELL,
 			    __DECONST(char **, memp), envp);
 			goto done;
diff --git a/lib/libc/tests/gen/Makefile b/lib/libc/tests/gen/Makefile
index 182966aadb26..74a245779d1b 100644
--- a/lib/libc/tests/gen/Makefile
+++ b/lib/libc/tests/gen/Makefile
@@ -24,6 +24,15 @@ ATF_TESTS_C+=		wordexp_test
 # TODO: t_siginfo (fixes require further inspection)
 # TODO: t_sethostname_test (consistently screws up the hostname)
 
+FILESGROUPS+=		posix_spawn_test_FILES
+
+posix_spawn_test_FILES=	spawnp_enoexec.sh
+posix_spawn_test_FILESDIR=	${TESTSDIR}
+posix_spawn_test_FILESMODE= 0755
+posix_spawn_test_FILESOWN= root
+posix_spawn_test_FILESGRP= wheel
+posix_spawn_test_FILESPACKAGE=	${PACKAGE}
+
 CFLAGS+=	-DTEST_LONG_DOUBLE
 
 # Not sure why this isn't defined for all architectures, since most
diff --git a/lib/libc/tests/gen/posix_spawn_test.c b/lib/libc/tests/gen/posix_spawn_test.c
index e04d103e1a30..5e2c485473d0 100644
--- a/lib/libc/tests/gen/posix_spawn_test.c
+++ b/lib/libc/tests/gen/posix_spawn_test.c
@@ -93,11 +93,50 @@ ATF_TC_BODY(posix_spawn_no_such_command_negative_test, tc)
 	}
 }
 
+ATF_TC_WITHOUT_HEAD(posix_spawnp_enoexec_fallback);
+ATF_TC_BODY(posix_spawnp_enoexec_fallback, tc)
+{
+	char buf[FILENAME_MAX];
+	char *myargs[2];
+	int error, status;
+	pid_t pid, waitres;
+
+	snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/spawnp_enoexec.sh",
+	    atf_tc_get_config_var(tc, "srcdir"));
+	myargs[0] = buf;
+	myargs[1] = NULL;
+	error = posix_spawnp(&pid, myargs[0], NULL, NULL, myargs, myenv);
+	ATF_REQUIRE(error == 0);
+	waitres = waitpid(pid, &status, 0);
+	ATF_REQUIRE(waitres == pid);
+	ATF_REQUIRE(WIFEXITED(status) && WEXITSTATUS(status) == 42);
+}
+
+ATF_TC_WITHOUT_HEAD(posix_spawnp_enoexec_fallback_null_argv0);
+ATF_TC_BODY(posix_spawnp_enoexec_fallback_null_argv0, tc)
+{
+	char buf[FILENAME_MAX];
+	char *myargs[1];
+	int error, status;
+	pid_t pid, waitres;
+
+	snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s/spawnp_enoexec.sh",
+	    atf_tc_get_config_var(tc, "srcdir"));
+	myargs[0] = NULL;
+	error = posix_spawnp(&pid, buf, NULL, NULL, myargs, myenv);
+	ATF_REQUIRE(error == 0);
+	waitres = waitpid(pid, &status, 0);
+	ATF_REQUIRE(waitres == pid);
+	ATF_REQUIRE(WIFEXITED(status) && WEXITSTATUS(status) == 42);
+}
+
 ATF_TP_ADD_TCS(tp)
 {
 
 	ATF_TP_ADD_TC(tp, posix_spawn_simple_test);
 	ATF_TP_ADD_TC(tp, posix_spawn_no_such_command_negative_test);
+	ATF_TP_ADD_TC(tp, posix_spawnp_enoexec_fallback);
+	ATF_TP_ADD_TC(tp, posix_spawnp_enoexec_fallback_null_argv0);
 
 	return (atf_no_error());
 }