diff --git a/lib/std/child_process.zig b/lib/std/child_process.zig
index ccf3c2428c..444adebbdc 100644
--- a/lib/std/child_process.zig
+++ b/lib/std/child_process.zig
@@ -744,9 +744,6 @@ pub const ChildProcess = struct {
             windowsDestroyPipe(g_hChildStd_ERR_Rd, g_hChildStd_ERR_Wr);
         };
 
-        const cmd_line = try windowsCreateCommandLine(self.allocator, self.argv);
-        defer self.allocator.free(cmd_line);
-
         var siStartInfo = windows.STARTUPINFOW{
             .cb = @sizeOf(windows.STARTUPINFOW),
             .hStdError = g_hChildStd_ERR_Wr,
@@ -818,7 +815,11 @@ pub const ChildProcess = struct {
         const app_name_w = try unicode.utf8ToUtf16LeWithNull(self.allocator, app_basename_utf8);
         defer self.allocator.free(app_name_w);
 
-        const cmd_line_w = try unicode.utf8ToUtf16LeWithNull(self.allocator, cmd_line);
+        const cmd_line_w = argvToCommandLineWindows(self.allocator, self.argv) catch |err| switch (err) {
+            // argv[0] contains unsupported characters that will never resolve to a valid exe.
+            error.InvalidArg0 => return error.FileNotFound,
+            else => |e| return e,
+        };
         defer self.allocator.free(cmd_line_w);
 
         run: {
@@ -1236,39 +1237,159 @@ test "windowsCreateProcessSupportsExtension" {
     try std.testing.expect(windowsCreateProcessSupportsExtension(&[_]u16{ '.', 'e', 'X', 'e', 'c' }) == null);
 }
 
-/// Caller must dealloc.
-fn windowsCreateCommandLine(allocator: mem.Allocator, argv: []const []const u8) ![:0]u8 {
+pub const ArgvToCommandLineError = error{ OutOfMemory, InvalidUtf8, InvalidArg0 };
+
+/// Serializes `argv` to a Windows command-line string suitable for passing to a child process and
+/// parsing by the `CommandLineToArgvW` algorithm. The caller owns the returned slice.
+pub fn argvToCommandLineWindows(
+    allocator: mem.Allocator,
+    argv: []const []const u8,
+) ArgvToCommandLineError![:0]u16 {
     var buf = std.ArrayList(u8).init(allocator);
     defer buf.deinit();
 
-    for (argv, 0..) |arg, arg_i| {
-        if (arg_i != 0) try buf.append(' ');
-        if (mem.indexOfAny(u8, arg, " \t\n\"") == null) {
-            try buf.appendSlice(arg);
-            continue;
-        }
-        try buf.append('"');
-        var backslash_count: usize = 0;
-        for (arg) |byte| {
-            switch (byte) {
-                '\\' => backslash_count += 1,
-                '"' => {
-                    try buf.appendNTimes('\\', backslash_count * 2 + 1);
-                    try buf.append('"');
-                    backslash_count = 0;
-                },
-                else => {
-                    try buf.appendNTimes('\\', backslash_count);
-                    try buf.append(byte);
-                    backslash_count = 0;
-                },
+    if (argv.len != 0) {
+        const arg0 = argv[0];
+
+        // The first argument must be quoted if it contains spaces or ASCII control characters
+        // (excluding DEL). It also follows special quoting rules where backslashes have no special
+        // interpretation, which makes it impossible to pass certain first arguments containing
+        // double quotes to a child process without characters from the first argument leaking into
+        // subsequent ones (which could have security implications).
+        //
+        // Empty arguments technically don't need quotes, but we quote them anyway for maximum
+        // compatibility with different implementations of the 'CommandLineToArgvW' algorithm.
+        //
+        // Double quotes are illegal in paths on Windows, so for the sake of simplicity we reject
+        // all first arguments containing double quotes, even ones that we could theoretically
+        // serialize in unquoted form.
+        var needs_quotes = arg0.len == 0;
+        for (arg0) |c| {
+            if (c <= ' ') {
+                needs_quotes = true;
+            } else if (c == '"') {
+                return error.InvalidArg0;
             }
         }
-        try buf.appendNTimes('\\', backslash_count * 2);
-        try buf.append('"');
+        if (needs_quotes) {
+            try buf.append('"');
+            try buf.appendSlice(arg0);
+            try buf.append('"');
+        } else {
+            try buf.appendSlice(arg0);
+        }
+
+        for (argv[1..]) |arg| {
+            try buf.append(' ');
+
+            // Subsequent arguments must be quoted if they contain spaces, tabs or double quotes,
+            // or if they are empty. For simplicity and for maximum compatibility with different
+            // implementations of the 'CommandLineToArgvW' algorithm, we also quote all ASCII
+            // control characters (again, excluding DEL).
+            needs_quotes = for (arg) |c| {
+                if (c <= ' ' or c == '"') {
+                    break true;
+                }
+            } else arg.len == 0;
+            if (!needs_quotes) {
+                try buf.appendSlice(arg);
+                continue;
+            }
+
+            try buf.append('"');
+            var backslash_count: usize = 0;
+            for (arg) |byte| {
+                switch (byte) {
+                    '\\' => {
+                        backslash_count += 1;
+                    },
+                    '"' => {
+                        try buf.appendNTimes('\\', backslash_count * 2 + 1);
+                        try buf.append('"');
+                        backslash_count = 0;
+                    },
+                    else => {
+                        try buf.appendNTimes('\\', backslash_count);
+                        try buf.append(byte);
+                        backslash_count = 0;
+                    },
+                }
+            }
+            try buf.appendNTimes('\\', backslash_count * 2);
+            try buf.append('"');
+        }
     }
 
-    return buf.toOwnedSliceSentinel(0);
+    return try unicode.utf8ToUtf16LeWithNull(allocator, buf.items);
+}
+
+test "argvToCommandLineWindows" {
+    const t = testArgvToCommandLineWindows;
+
+    try t(&.{
+        \\C:\Program Files\zig\zig.exe
+        ,
+        \\run
+        ,
+        \\.\src\main.zig
+        ,
+        \\-target
+        ,
+        \\x86_64-windows-gnu
+        ,
+        \\-O
+        ,
+        \\ReleaseSafe
+        ,
+        \\--
+        ,
+        \\--emoji=🗿
+        ,
+        \\--eval=new Regex("Dwayne \"The Rock\" Johnson")
+        ,
+    },
+        \\"C:\Program Files\zig\zig.exe" run .\src\main.zig -target x86_64-windows-gnu -O ReleaseSafe -- --emoji=🗿 "--eval=new Regex(\"Dwayne \\\"The Rock\\\" Johnson\")"
+    );
+
+    try t(&.{}, "");
+    try t(&.{""}, "\"\"");
+    try t(&.{" "}, "\" \"");
+    try t(&.{"\t"}, "\"\t\"");
+    try t(&.{"\x07"}, "\"\x07\"");
+    try t(&.{"🦎"}, "🦎");
+
+    try t(
+        &.{ "zig", "aa aa", "bb\tbb", "cc\ncc", "dd\r\ndd", "ee\x7Fee" },
+        "zig \"aa aa\" \"bb\tbb\" \"cc\ncc\" \"dd\r\ndd\" ee\x7Fee",
+    );
+
+    try t(
+        &.{ "\\\\foo bar\\foo bar\\", "\\\\zig zag\\zig zag\\" },
+        "\"\\\\foo bar\\foo bar\\\" \"\\\\zig zag\\zig zag\\\\\"",
+    );
+
+    try std.testing.expectError(
+        error.InvalidArg0,
+        argvToCommandLineWindows(std.testing.allocator, &.{"\"quotes\"quotes\""}),
+    );
+    try std.testing.expectError(
+        error.InvalidArg0,
+        argvToCommandLineWindows(std.testing.allocator, &.{"quotes\"quotes"}),
+    );
+    try std.testing.expectError(
+        error.InvalidArg0,
+        argvToCommandLineWindows(std.testing.allocator, &.{"q u o t e s \" q u o t e s"}),
+    );
+}
+
+fn testArgvToCommandLineWindows(argv: []const []const u8, expected_cmd_line: []const u8) !void {
+    const cmd_line_w = try argvToCommandLineWindows(std.testing.allocator, argv);
+    defer std.testing.allocator.free(cmd_line_w);
+
+    const cmd_line = try unicode.utf16leToUtf8Alloc(std.testing.allocator, cmd_line_w);
+    defer std.testing.allocator.free(cmd_line);
+
+    try std.testing.expectEqualStrings(expected_cmd_line, cmd_line);
 }
 
 fn windowsDestroyPipe(rd: ?windows.HANDLE, wr: ?windows.HANDLE) void {