diff --git a/crates/nu-command/src/system/run_external.rs b/crates/nu-command/src/system/run_external.rs
index d0ce1ab9d9..f37e127941 100644
--- a/crates/nu-command/src/system/run_external.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-command/src/system/run_external.rs
@@ -397,14 +397,25 @@ impl ExternalCommand {
 
     /// Spawn a command without shelling out to an external shell
     pub fn spawn_simple_command(&self, cwd: &str) -> Result<std::process::Command, ShellError> {
-        let head = trim_enclosing_quotes(&self.name.item);
-        let head = if head.starts_with('~') || head.starts_with("..") {
-            nu_path::expand_path_with(head, cwd)
-                .to_string_lossy()
-                .to_string()
-        } else {
-            head
+        let is_path = |arg: &str| {
+            let head = match arg.split_once(::std::path::is_separator) {
+                Some((x, _)) => x,
+                None => arg,
+            };
+            head == "~" || head.chars().all(|ch| ch == '.')
         };
+        let expand_path = |arg: String| {
+            if is_path(&arg) {
+                nu_path::expand_path_with(arg, cwd)
+                    .to_string_lossy()
+                    .to_string()
+            } else {
+                arg
+            }
+        };
+
+        let head = trim_enclosing_quotes(&self.name.item);
+        let head = expand_path(head);
 
         let mut process = std::process::Command::new(&head);
 
@@ -413,13 +424,7 @@ impl ExternalCommand {
                 item: trim_enclosing_quotes(&arg.item),
                 span: arg.span,
             };
-            arg.item = if arg.item.starts_with('~') || arg.item.starts_with("..") {
-                nu_path::expand_path_with(&arg.item, cwd)
-                    .to_string_lossy()
-                    .to_string()
-            } else {
-                arg.item
-            };
+            arg.item = expand_path(arg.item);
 
             let cwd = PathBuf::from(cwd);