diff --git a/launch/launch/actions/execute_process.py b/launch/launch/actions/execute_process.py
index 51aee8bb2..4b8819fad 100644
--- a/launch/launch/actions/execute_process.py
+++ b/launch/launch/actions/execute_process.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 """Module for the ExecuteProcess action."""
 
+import platform
 import shlex
 from typing import Dict
 from typing import Iterable
@@ -34,6 +35,8 @@
 from ..substitution import Substitution
 from ..substitutions import TextSubstitution
 
+g_is_windows = 'win' in platform.system().lower()
+
 
 @expose_action('executable')
 class ExecuteProcess(ExecuteLocal):
@@ -266,7 +269,7 @@ def _append_arg():
         for sub in parser.parse_substitution(cmd):
             if isinstance(sub, TextSubstitution):
                 try:
-                    tokens = shlex.split(sub.text)
+                    tokens = shlex.split(sub.text, posix=(not g_is_windows))
                 except Exception:
                     logger = launch.logging.get_logger(cls.__name__)
                     logger.error(f"Failed to parse token '{sub.text}' of cmd '{cmd}'")
diff --git a/launch/launch/descriptions/executable.py b/launch/launch/descriptions/executable.py
index 3d1d0640b..930801921 100644
--- a/launch/launch/descriptions/executable.py
+++ b/launch/launch/descriptions/executable.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 """Module for a description of an Executable."""
 
 import os
+import platform
 import re
 import shlex
 import threading
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@
 
 _executable_process_counter_lock = threading.Lock()
 _executable_process_counter = 0  # in Python3, this number is unbounded (no rollover)
+g_is_windows = 'win' in platform.system().lower()
 
 
 class Executable:
@@ -179,7 +181,9 @@ def prepare(self, context: LaunchContext, action: Action):
             # Apply if filter regex matches (empty regex matches all strings)
             should_apply_prefix = re.match(prefix_filter, os.path.basename(cmd[0])) is not None
         if should_apply_prefix:
-            cmd = shlex.split(perform_substitutions(context, self.__prefix)) + cmd
+            cmd = shlex.split(
+                perform_substitutions(context, self.__prefix), posix=(not g_is_windows)
+            ) + cmd
         self.__final_cmd = cmd
         name = os.path.basename(cmd[0]) if self.__name is None \
             else perform_substitutions(context, self.__name)
diff --git a/launch/launch/substitutions/command.py b/launch/launch/substitutions/command.py
index 0aed7a9d6..6d0ddc840 100644
--- a/launch/launch/substitutions/command.py
+++ b/launch/launch/substitutions/command.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 """Module for the Command substitution."""
 
-import os
+import platform
 import shlex
 import subprocess
 from typing import List
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@
 from ..some_substitutions_type import SomeSubstitutionsType
 from ..substitution import Substitution
 
+g_is_windows = 'win' in platform.system().lower()
+
 
 @expose_substitution('command')
 class Command(Substitution):
@@ -94,10 +96,7 @@ def perform(self, context: LaunchContext) -> Text:
         from ..utilities import perform_substitutions  # import here to avoid loop
         command_str = perform_substitutions(context, self.command)
         command: Union[str, List[str]]
-        if os.name != 'nt':
-            command = shlex.split(command_str)
-        else:
-            command = command_str
+        command = shlex.split(command_str, posix=(not g_is_windows))
         on_stderr = perform_substitutions(context, self.on_stderr)
         if on_stderr not in ('fail', 'ignore', 'warn', 'capture'):
             raise SubstitutionFailure(
diff --git a/launch_xml/test/launch_xml/executable.xml b/launch_xml/test/launch_xml/executable.xml
deleted file mode 100644
index 3195dd1ad..000000000
--- a/launch_xml/test/launch_xml/executable.xml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-<launch>
-    <executable cmd="ls -l -a -s" cwd="/" name="my_ls" shell="true" output="log" emulate_tty="true" sigkill_timeout="4.0" sigterm_timeout="7.0" launch-prefix="$(env LAUNCH_PREFIX '')">
-        <env name="var" value="1"/>
-    </executable>
-</launch>
diff --git a/launch_xml/test/launch_xml/test_executable.py b/launch_xml/test/launch_xml/test_executable.py
index 2299fc255..020dc39dd 100644
--- a/launch_xml/test/launch_xml/test_executable.py
+++ b/launch_xml/test/launch_xml/test_executable.py
@@ -16,24 +16,34 @@
 
 import io
 import os
-from pathlib import Path
 import sys
-import textwrap
 
 from launch import LaunchService
 from launch.frontend import Parser
 
 import pytest
 
+test_executable_xml = f"""
+<launch>
+    <executable
+        cmd="{sys.executable} --version"
+        cwd="/" name="my_ls" shell="true" output="log"
+        emulate_tty="true" sigkill_timeout="4.0" sigterm_timeout="7.0"
+        launch-prefix="$(env LAUNCH_PREFIX '')"
+    >
+        <env name="var" value="1"/>
+    </executable>
+</launch>
+"""
+
 
 def test_executable():
     """Parse node xml example."""
-    xml_file = str(Path(__file__).parent / 'executable.xml')
-    root_entity, parser = Parser.load(xml_file)
+    root_entity, parser = Parser.load(io.StringIO(test_executable_xml))
     ld = parser.parse_description(root_entity)
     executable = ld.entities[0]
     cmd = [i[0].perform(None) for i in executable.cmd]
-    assert cmd == ['ls', '-l', '-a', '-s']
+    assert cmd == [sys.executable, '--version']
     assert executable.cwd[0].perform(None) == '/'
     assert executable.name[0].perform(None) == 'my_ls'
     assert executable.shell is True
@@ -49,20 +59,21 @@ def test_executable():
     ls = LaunchService()
     ls.include_launch_description(ld)
     assert 0 == ls.run()
+    assert executable.return_code == 0
+
+
+test_executable_wrong_subtag_xml = """
+<launch>
+    <executable cmd="some_command --that-does-not-matter">
+        <env name="var" value="1"/>
+        <whats_this/>
+    </executable>
+</launch>
+"""
 
 
 def test_executable_wrong_subtag():
-    xml_file = \
-        """\
-        <launch>
-            <executable cmd="ls -l -a -s" cwd="/" name="my_ls" shell="true" output="log" launch-prefix="$(env LAUNCH_PREFIX '')">
-                <env name="var" value="1"/>
-                <whats_this/>
-            </executable>
-        </launch>
-        """  # noqa, line too long
-    xml_file = textwrap.dedent(xml_file)
-    root_entity, parser = Parser.load(io.StringIO(xml_file))
+    root_entity, parser = Parser.load(io.StringIO(test_executable_wrong_subtag_xml))
     with pytest.raises(ValueError) as excinfo:
         parser.parse_description(root_entity)
     assert '`executable`' in str(excinfo.value)