diff --git a/headers/private/libroot/libroot_private.h b/headers/private/libroot/libroot_private.h
index 20bc2ade99..5055848b03 100644
--- a/headers/private/libroot/libroot_private.h
+++ b/headers/private/libroot/libroot_private.h
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ status_t __test_executable(const char *path, char *invoker);
 status_t __flatten_process_args(const char* const* args, int32 argCount,
 			const char* const* env, int32* envCount, const char* executablePath,
 			char*** _flatArgs, size_t* _flatSize);
+thread_id __load_image_at_path(const char* path, int32 argCount,
+			const char **args, const char **environ);
 void _call_atexit_hooks_for_range(addr_t start, addr_t size);
 void __init_env(const struct user_space_program_args *args);
 void __init_env_post_heap(void);
diff --git a/src/system/libroot/os/image.cpp b/src/system/libroot/os/image.cpp
index e672ce8b8b..caf4adb873 100644
--- a/src/system/libroot/os/image.cpp
+++ b/src/system/libroot/os/image.cpp
@@ -201,7 +201,8 @@ private:
 
 
 thread_id
-load_image(int32 argCount, const char **args, const char **environ)
+__load_image_at_path(const char* path, int32 argCount, const char **args,
+	const char **environ)
 {
 	char invoker[B_FILE_NAME_LENGTH];
 	char **newArgs = NULL;
@@ -213,13 +214,13 @@ load_image(int32 argCount, const char **args, const char **environ)
 
 	// test validity of executable + support for scripts
 	{
-		status_t status = __test_executable(args[0], invoker);
+		status_t status = __test_executable(path, invoker);
 		if (status < B_OK)
 			return status;
 
 		if (invoker[0]) {
 			status = __parse_invoke_line(invoker, &newArgs,
-				(char * const **)&args, &argCount, args[0]);
+				(char * const **)&args, &argCount, path);
 			if (status < B_OK)
 				return status;
 		}
@@ -232,7 +233,7 @@ load_image(int32 argCount, const char **args, const char **environ)
 	char** flatArgs = NULL;
 	size_t flatArgsSize;
 	status_t status = __flatten_process_args(args, argCount, environ,
-		&envCount, args[0], &flatArgs, &flatArgsSize);
+		&envCount, path, &flatArgs, &flatArgsSize);
 
 	if (status == B_OK) {
 		thread = _kern_load_image(flatArgs, flatArgsSize, argCount, envCount,
@@ -247,6 +248,13 @@ load_image(int32 argCount, const char **args, const char **environ)
 }
 
 
+thread_id
+load_image(int32 argCount, const char **args, const char **environ)
+{
+	return __load_image_at_path(args[0], argCount, args, environ);
+}
+
+
 image_id
 load_add_on(char const *name)
 {
diff --git a/src/system/libroot/posix/spawn.cpp b/src/system/libroot/posix/spawn.cpp
index bb5ddfaefc..091720bef0 100644
--- a/src/system/libroot/posix/spawn.cpp
+++ b/src/system/libroot/posix/spawn.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2017-2019, Jérôme Duval, jerome.Duval@gmail.com
- * Distributed under the terms of the MIT license.
+ * Copyright 2017-2019, Jérôme Duval, jerome.duval@gmail.com
+ * Distributed under the terms of the MIT License.
  */
 
 
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
+#include <libroot_private.h>
 #include <signal_defs.h>
 #include <syscalls.h>
 
@@ -495,7 +496,7 @@ process_file_actions(const posix_spawn_file_actions_t *_actions, int *errfd)
 
 
 static int
-do_posix_spawn(pid_t *_pid, const char *path,
+spawn_using_fork(pid_t *_pid, const char *path,
 	const posix_spawn_file_actions_t *actions,
 	const posix_spawnattr_t *attrp, char *const argv[], char *const envp[],
 	bool envpath)
@@ -555,6 +556,52 @@ fail:
 }
 
 
+static int
+spawn_using_load_image(pid_t *_pid, const char *_path,
+	char *const argv[], char *const envp[], bool envpath)
+{
+	const char* path;
+	// if envpath is specified but the path contains '/', don't search PATH
+	if (!envpath || strchr(_path, '/') != NULL) {
+		path = _path;
+	} else {
+		char* buffer = (char*)alloca(B_PATH_NAME_LENGTH);
+		status_t status = __look_up_in_path(_path, buffer);
+		if (status != B_OK)
+			return status;
+		path = buffer;
+	}
+
+	// count arguments
+	int32 argCount = 0;
+	while (argv[argCount] != NULL)
+		argCount++;
+
+	thread_id thread = __load_image_at_path(path, argCount, (const char**)argv,
+		(const char**)(envp != NULL ? envp : environ));
+	if (thread < 0)
+		return thread;
+
+	*_pid = thread;
+	return resume_thread(thread);
+}
+
+
+static int
+do_posix_spawn(pid_t *_pid, const char *path,
+	const posix_spawn_file_actions_t *actions,
+	const posix_spawnattr_t *attrp, char *const argv[], char *const envp[],
+	bool envpath)
+{
+	if (actions == NULL && attrp == NULL) {
+		return spawn_using_load_image(_pid, path, argv, envp, envpath);
+	} else {
+		return spawn_using_fork(_pid, path, actions, attrp, argv, envp,
+			envpath);
+	}
+}
+
+
 int
 posix_spawn(pid_t *pid, const char *path,
 	const posix_spawn_file_actions_t *file_actions,