diff --git a/lib/libalpm/util.c b/lib/libalpm/util.c
index c88326f2..be20ddee 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/util.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/util.c
@@ -549,9 +549,9 @@ int _alpm_run_chroot(alpm_handle_t *handle, const char *cmd, char *const argv[])
 			exit(1);
 		}
 		umask(0022);
-		execv(cmd, argv);
-		/* execv only returns if there was an error */
-		fprintf(stderr, _("call to execv failed (%s)\n"), strerror(errno));
+		execvp(cmd, argv);
+		/* execvp only returns if there was an error */
+		fprintf(stderr, _("call to execvp failed (%s)\n"), strerror(errno));
 		exit(1);
 	} else {
 		/* this code runs for the parent only (wait on the child) */