diff --git a/crates/ghostty-termio/src/command_windows.rs b/crates/ghostty-termio/src/command_windows.rs
index 332fa04..ae65db7 100644
--- a/crates/ghostty-termio/src/command_windows.rs
+++ b/crates/ghostty-termio/src/command_windows.rs
@@ -135,7 +135,11 @@ impl Command {
         // OS strings); validate UTF-8 and convert to UTF-16 for the Windows API.
         // Like Zig's fallible `utf8ToUtf16Le*`, malformed input fails the
         // launch instead of selecting a U+FFFD-substituted path or argument.
-        let application_w = EncodedOs::from_encoded(&self.path).try_to_utf16_nul()?;
+        // DEVIANT (see DEVIANT_FIXES.md): `lpApplicationName` is never
+        // searched on PATH, so a bare `cmd.exe` (a `command = direct:` /
+        // `-e` argv[0]) would not start in Zig. Resolve it ourselves.
+        let resolved = resolve_application(&self.path);
+        let application_w = EncodedOs::from_encoded(&resolved).try_to_utf16_nul()?;
         let cwd_w = self
             .cwd
             .as_ref()
@@ -344,10 +348,59 @@ impl Command {
     }
 }
 
+/// `CreateProcessW` takes `lpApplicationName` literally (a partial name is
+/// completed with the current directory only, the search path is *not* used).
+/// For a bare program name (no drive or separator) look it up on `PATH`,
+/// appending `.exe` when it has no extension as `CreateProcess` would.
+/// Anything else, or a failed lookup, is returned unchanged.
+fn resolve_application(path: &str) -> String {
+    if path.is_empty() || path.contains(['\\', '/', ':']) {
+        return path.to_owned();
+    }
+    let name = if std::path::Path::new(path).extension().is_some() {
+        path.to_owned()
+    } else {
+        format!("{path}.exe")
+    };
+    match ghostty_os::path::expand_os(std::ffi::OsStr::new(&name)) {
+        Ok(Some(found)) => found
+            .to_str()
+            .map_or_else(|| path.to_owned(), str::to_owned),
+        _ => path.to_owned(),
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
 
+    #[test]
+    fn resolve_application_searches_path_for_bare_names() {
+        let found = resolve_application("cmd.exe");
+        assert!(found.to_ascii_lowercase().ends_with("\\cmd.exe"), "{found}");
+        assert_ne!(found, "cmd.exe");
+        // Extension is implied like CreateProcess.
+        assert!(
+            resolve_application("cmd")
+                .to_ascii_lowercase()
+                .ends_with("\\cmd.exe")
+        );
+        // Paths and unknown names are left alone.
+        assert_eq!(resolve_application(r"C:\x\y.exe"), r"C:\x\y.exe");
+        assert_eq!(resolve_application(r".\y.exe"), r".\y.exe");
+        assert_eq!(
+            resolve_application("no-such-program-zzz"),
+            "no-such-program-zzz"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn bare_program_name_starts_via_path_search() {
+        let mut cmd = Command::new("cmd.exe", &["cmd.exe", "/c", "exit 3"]);
+        cmd.start().unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(cmd.wait(true).unwrap(), Exit::Exited(3));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn run_cmd_and_wait() {
         let mut cmd = Command::new(
diff --git a/docs/rewrite/DEVIANT_FIXES.md b/docs/rewrite/DEVIANT_FIXES.md
index bbb4bf5..0bf4c28 100644
--- a/docs/rewrite/DEVIANT_FIXES.md
+++ b/docs/rewrite/DEVIANT_FIXES.md
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ when this file was written.
 | 36 | Font (wasm/browser Canvas): atlas pixel format | `font/face/web_canvas.zig` (atlas write branch on `.rgba`) | The branch tests a stale `.rgba` format against an enum that contains `.bgra`, so BGRA atlases are never converted. | The BGRA atlas conversion is implemented. No claim of equivalence with a real browser (not testable here). | d89691b | `ghostty-font` web_canvas tests (compile/Node level) |
 | 37 | Termio: subprocess cleanup | `termio/Exec.zig:1188-1224` (`getpgid`) | Loops forever while `getpgid(child) == our pgid`, i.e. also when the child died before `setsid` and is an unreaped zombie (its pgid stays ours), hanging the surface close. | Still waits without a cap (no 5 s limit) while the child is alive, but stops (no SIGHUP, nothing to kill) once `waitid(WNOWAIT)` shows the child exited. | uncommitted (P3) | `getpgid_gives_up_on_exited_child_without_setsid`, `getpgid_waits_for_late_setsid` (`ghostty-termio/src/exec.rs`) |
 | 38 | Config (Windows): absolute theme paths | `config/Config.zig:9788-9799` (`Theme.parseCLI`) | Any value containing `,`, `=` or `:` is parsed as a `light:..,dark:..` pair, and a Windows absolute path (`C:\\themes\\x`, `\\\\?\\C:\\...`) always contains a colon, so `theme = <absolute path>` is rejected on Windows (found by running the config tests under Wine). | On Windows a value that starts like an absolute Windows path (drive letter + `:` + separator, or `\\\\`) is a single theme; the pair syntax is unchanged (quote backslashes). Other platforms are unchanged. | uncommitted (agent WINE) | `windows_absolute_path_detection`, `theme_windows_absolute_path_and_pair_with_paths` (`ghostty-config/src/types_b.rs`), `theme_loading` under Wine |
+| 39 | Termio (Windows): bare program names | `Command.zig:261,347-358` (`startWindows`, `CreateProcessW(application_w, ...)`) with `termio/Exec.zig:1004` (`.path = self.args[0]`) | `lpApplicationName` is never searched on `PATH` (a partial name only completes against the current directory), so a `direct:` command / `-e` argv[0] such as `cmd.exe` fails with `FileNotFound`; only the default shell works (it is wrapped as `%WINDIR%\\System32\\cmd.exe /C ...`). | A name without drive/separator is looked up on `PATH` (`.exe` implied) before `CreateProcessW`; failures keep the original name (same error as Zig). | uncommitted (agent WINE) | `resolve_application_searches_path_for_bare_names`, `bare_program_name_starts_via_path_search` (`ghostty-termio/src/command_windows.rs`), `echo_output_reaches_terminal_and_exit_is_reported` (`tests/exec_windows.rs`, Wine) |
 
 ## Upstream quirks deliberately kept (not fixed)