diff --git a/data_for_test.go b/data_for_test.go
index 3600335..6aeb270 100644
--- a/data_for_test.go
+++ b/data_for_test.go
@@ -631,7 +631,8 @@ var suites = []FixtureSuite{
 		{
 			Name: "otel-cli span exec echo",
 			Config: FixtureConfig{
-				CliArgs: []string{"exec", "--service", "main_test.go", "--name", "test-span-123", "--kind", "server", "echo hello world"},
+				// intentionally calling a command with no args bc it's a special case in exec.go
+				CliArgs: []string{"exec", "--service", "main_test.go", "--name", "test-span-123", "--kind", "server", "echo"},
 				Env: map[string]string{
 					"OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT": "{{endpoint}}",
 					"TRACEPARENT":                 "00-edededededededededededededed9000-edededededededed-01",
@@ -643,7 +644,7 @@ var suites = []FixtureSuite{
 					"span_id":  "*",
 					"trace_id": "edededededededededededededed9000",
 				},
-				CliOutput: "hello world\n",
+				CliOutput: "\n",
 				SpanCount: 1,
 			},
 		},
@@ -655,7 +656,7 @@ var suites = []FixtureSuite{
 			Config: FixtureConfig{
 				CliArgs: []string{
 					"exec", "--name", "outer", "--endpoint", "{{endpoint}}", "--fail", "--verbose", "--",
-					"./otel-cli", "exec", "--name", "inner", "--endpoint", "{{endpoint}}", "--tp-required", "--fail", "--verbose", "echo hello world"},
+					"./otel-cli", "exec", "--name", "inner", "--endpoint", "{{endpoint}}", "--tp-required", "--fail", "--verbose", "echo", "hello world"},
 			},
 			Expect: Results{
 				Config: otelcli.DefaultConfig(),
diff --git a/otelcli/exec.go b/otelcli/exec.go
index 7d136b2..b31b51e 100644
--- a/otelcli/exec.go
+++ b/otelcli/exec.go
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 package otelcli
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"context"
+	"encoding/csv"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
-	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -42,26 +43,22 @@ func init() {
 }
 
 func doExec(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
-	// joining the string here is kinda gross... but should be fine
-	// there might be a better way in Cobra, maybe require passing it after a '--'?
-	commandString := strings.Join(args, " ")
-
 	// put the command in the attributes, before creating the span so it gets picked up
-	config.Attributes["command"] = commandString
+	config.Attributes["command"] = args[0]
+	config.Attributes["arguments"] = ""
 
-	span := NewProtobufSpanWithConfig(config)
+	var child *exec.Cmd
+	if len(args) > 1 {
+		// CSV-join the arguments to send as an attribute
+		buf := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte{})
+		csv.NewWriter(buf).WriteAll([][]string{args[1:]})
+		config.Attributes["arguments"] = buf.String()
 
-	// use cmd.exe to launch PowerShell on Windows
-	var shell string
-	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
-		shell = "cmd.exe"
-		commandString = "/C powershell " + commandString
+		child = exec.Command(args[0], args[1:]...)
 	} else {
-		shell = "/bin/sh"
+		child = exec.Command(args[0])
 	}
 
-	child := exec.Command(shell, "-c", commandString)
-
 	// attach all stdio to the parent's handles
 	child.Stdin = os.Stdin
 	child.Stdout = os.Stdout
@@ -78,6 +75,8 @@ func doExec(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	span := NewProtobufSpanWithConfig(config)
+
 	// set the traceparent to the current span to be available to the child process
 	if config.IsRecording() {
 		tp := traceparentFromSpan(span)