diff --git a/xpra/net/subprocess_wrapper.py b/xpra/net/subprocess_wrapper.py
index 71f0d8a74a..49e6ae3b90 100644
--- a/xpra/net/subprocess_wrapper.py
+++ b/xpra/net/subprocess_wrapper.py
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@
 from typing import Any
 
 from xpra.gtk.signals import register_os_signals
-from xpra.util.str_fn import csv, repr_ellipsized, bytestostr, hexstr
-from xpra.util.env import envint, envbool
+from xpra.util.str_fn import csv, repr_ellipsized, hexstr
+from xpra.util.env import envint, envbool, get_exec_env
 from xpra.net.bytestreams import TwoFileConnection
 from xpra.net.common import ConnectionClosedException, PACKET_TYPES
 from xpra.net.protocol.socket_handler import SocketProtocol
@@ -310,19 +310,10 @@ def exec_kwargs() -> dict[str, Any]:
     return kwargs
 
 
-def exec_env(blacklist=("LS_COLORS",)) -> dict[str, str]:
-    env = os.environ.copy()
+def exec_env() -> dict[str, str]:
+    env = get_exec_env()
     env["XPRA_SKIP_UI"] = "1"
     env["XPRA_FORCE_COLOR_LOG"] = "1"
-    # let's make things more complicated than they should be:
-    # on win32, the environment can end up containing unicode, and subprocess chokes on it
-    for k, v in env.items():
-        if k in blacklist:
-            continue
-        try:
-            env[k] = bytestostr(v.encode("utf8"))
-        except Exception:
-            env[k] = bytestostr(v)
     return env
 
 
diff --git a/xpra/scripts/main.py b/xpra/scripts/main.py
index f7088921d0..e1494ee73f 100755
--- a/xpra/scripts/main.py
+++ b/xpra/scripts/main.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 from xpra.common import SocketState, noerr, noop
 from xpra.util.objects import typedict
 from xpra.util.str_fn import nonl, csv, print_nested_dict, pver, sorted_nicely, bytestostr
-from xpra.util.env import envint, envbool, osexpand, save_env, OSEnvContext
+from xpra.util.env import envint, envbool, osexpand, save_env, get_exec_env, OSEnvContext
 from xpra.util.thread import set_main_thread
 from xpra.exit_codes import ExitCode, ExitValue, RETRY_EXIT_CODES, exit_str
 from xpra.os_util import (
@@ -1833,7 +1833,7 @@ def run_opengl_probe():
     from xpra.platform.paths import get_nodock_command
     log = Logger("opengl")
     cmd = get_nodock_command() + ["opengl"]
-    env = os.environ.copy()
+    env = get_exec_env()
     if is_debug_enabled("opengl"):
         cmd += ["-d", "opengl"]
     else:
@@ -1841,6 +1841,7 @@ def run_opengl_probe():
     env["XPRA_HIDE_DOCK"] = "1"
     env["XPRA_REDIRECT_OUTPUT"] = "0"
     start = monotonic()
+    log(f"run_opengl_probe() using cmd={cmd} with env={env}")
     try:
         proc = Popen(cmd, stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE, env=env, universal_newlines=True)
     except Exception as e:
diff --git a/xpra/util/env.py b/xpra/util/env.py
index c14e48fe83..8804c86727 100644
--- a/xpra/util/env.py
+++ b/xpra/util/env.py
@@ -248,6 +248,22 @@ def get_saved_env_var(var, default=None):
     return _saved_env.get(var, default)
 
 
+def get_exec_env(remove=("LS_COLORS", "LESSOPEN", "HISTCONTROL", "HISTSIZE", )) -> dict[str, str]:
+    # let's make things more complicated than they should be:
+    # on win32, the environment can end up containing unicode, and subprocess chokes on it
+    env: dict[str, str] = {}
+    for k, v in os.environ.items():
+        if k in remove:
+            continue
+        try:
+            env[k] = v.encode("utf8").decode("latin1")
+        except UnicodeError:
+            env[k] = str(v)
+    env["XPRA_SKIP_UI"] = "1"
+    env["XPRA_FORCE_COLOR_LOG"] = "1"
+    return env
+
+
 class SilenceWarningsContext(AbstractContextManager):
 
     def __init__(self, *categories):