diff --git a/doc/source/modulefile.rst b/doc/source/modulefile.rst
index 77876bf4..52ac8997 100644
--- a/doc/source/modulefile.rst
+++ b/doc/source/modulefile.rst
@@ -444,10 +444,10 @@ the *modulefile* is being loaded.
 
 **system** string
 
- Pass *string* to the Tcl built-in command **exec**\ (n). For the **exec**\
- (n) call **modulecmd.tcl** redirects stdout to stderr since stdout would
- be parsed by the evaluating shell. The exit status of the executed command
- is returned.
+ Run *string* command through shell. On Unix, command is passed to the
+ ``/bin/sh`` shell whereas on Windows it is passed to ``cmd.exe``.
+ **modulecmd.tcl** redirects stdout to stderr since stdout would be parsed by
+ the evaluating shell. The exit status of the executed command is returned.
 
 **uname** field
 
diff --git a/modulecmd.tcl.in b/modulecmd.tcl.in
index dcd44485..f2b0f997 100644
--- a/modulecmd.tcl.in
+++ b/modulecmd.tcl.in
@@ -2733,14 +2733,24 @@ proc uname {what} {
    return $::unameCache($what)
 }
 
-proc system {mycmd args} {
-   reportDebug "$mycmd $args"
+# run shell command
+proc system {args} {
+   reportDebug $args
 
    set mode [currentMode]
    set status {}
 
    if {$mode eq "load" || $mode eq "unload"} {
-      if {[catch {eval exec >&@stderr $mycmd $args}]} {
+      # run through the appropriate shell
+      if {[isWin]} {
+         set shell cmd.exe
+         set shellarg /c
+      } else {
+         set shell /bin/sh
+         set shellarg -c
+      }
+
+      if {[catch {exec >&@stderr $shell $shellarg [join $args]}]} {
           # non-zero exit status, get it:
           set status [lindex $::errorCode 2]
       } else {
diff --git a/testsuite/modulefiles/system/2.0 b/testsuite/modulefiles/system/2.0
index 5ca7954c..99159384 100644
--- a/testsuite/modulefiles/system/2.0
+++ b/testsuite/modulefiles/system/2.0
@@ -31,3 +31,5 @@
 setenv testsuite [system $env(TESTSUITEDIR)/systest]
 setenv testsuite2 [system $env(TESTSUITEDIR)/systest 1 0 9]
 setenv testsuite3 [system "$env(TESTSUITEDIR)/systest 1 0 9"]
+setenv testsuite4 [system "$env(TESTSUITEDIR)/systest1 /path/to/`$env(TESTSUITEDIR)/systest1 dir`/file"]
+setenv testsuite5 [system $env(TESTSUITEDIR)/systest1 /path/to/`$env(TESTSUITEDIR)/systest1 dir`/file]
diff --git a/testsuite/modules.50-cmds/140-system.exp b/testsuite/modules.50-cmds/140-system.exp
index 5d24a7c9..ec480b1d 100644
--- a/testsuite/modules.50-cmds/140-system.exp
+++ b/testsuite/modules.50-cmds/140-system.exp
@@ -33,9 +33,11 @@ lappend ans [list set testsuite2 109]
 lappend ans [list set testsuite3 109]
 lappend ans [list set _LMFILES_ $modulefile]
 lappend ans [list set LOADEDMODULES $module]
+lappend ans [list set testsuite4 0]
 lappend ans [list set testsuite 123]
+lappend ans [list set testsuite5 0]
 
-test_cmd "csh" "load $module" $ans
+testouterr_cmd "csh" "load $module" $ans "str:/path/to/str:dir/file\nstr:/path/to/str:dir/file"
 
 #
 # Test a command returning 0 exit code
diff --git a/testsuite/systest1 b/testsuite/systest1
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..2784b1ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testsuite/systest1
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+echo "str:$1"