diff --git a/winpr/libwinpr/thread/process.c b/winpr/libwinpr/thread/process.c
index cac0f73e6..d3945f28e 100644
--- a/winpr/libwinpr/thread/process.c
+++ b/winpr/libwinpr/thread/process.c
@@ -180,13 +180,14 @@ BOOL _CreateProcessExA(HANDLE hToken, DWORD dwLogonFlags,
 	pid_t pid;
 	int flags;
 	int numArgs;
-	LPSTR* pArgs;
-	char** envp;
+	LPSTR* pArgs = NULL;
+	char** envp = NULL;
 	char* filename = NULL;
 	WINPR_THREAD* thread;
 	WINPR_PROCESS* process;
 	WINPR_ACCESS_TOKEN* token;
 	LPTCH lpszEnvironmentBlock;
+	BOOL ret = FALSE;
 
 	pid = 0;
 	envp = NULL;
@@ -210,6 +211,8 @@ BOOL _CreateProcessExA(HANDLE hToken, DWORD dwLogonFlags,
 	}
 
 	filename = FindApplicationPath(pArgs[0]);
+	if (NULL == filename)
+		goto finish;
 
 	/* fork and exec */
 
@@ -218,7 +221,7 @@ BOOL _CreateProcessExA(HANDLE hToken, DWORD dwLogonFlags,
 	if (pid < 0)
 	{
 		/* fork failure */
-		return FALSE;
+		goto finish;
 	}
 
 	if (pid == 0)
@@ -252,7 +255,8 @@ BOOL _CreateProcessExA(HANDLE hToken, DWORD dwLogonFlags,
 
 		if (execve(filename, pArgs, envp) < 0)
 		{
-			return FALSE;
+			/* execve failed - end the process */
+			_exit(1);
 		}
 	}
 	else
@@ -263,7 +267,9 @@ BOOL _CreateProcessExA(HANDLE hToken, DWORD dwLogonFlags,
 	process = (WINPR_PROCESS*) malloc(sizeof(WINPR_PROCESS));
 
 	if (!process)
-		return FALSE;
+	{
+		goto finish;
+	}
 
 	ZeroMemory(process, sizeof(WINPR_PROCESS));
 
@@ -278,7 +284,9 @@ BOOL _CreateProcessExA(HANDLE hToken, DWORD dwLogonFlags,
 	ZeroMemory(thread, sizeof(WINPR_THREAD));
 
 	if (!thread)
-		return FALSE;
+	{
+		goto finish;
+	}
 
 	WINPR_HANDLE_SET_TYPE(thread, HANDLE_TYPE_THREAD);
 
@@ -289,7 +297,13 @@ BOOL _CreateProcessExA(HANDLE hToken, DWORD dwLogonFlags,
 	lpProcessInformation->dwProcessId = (DWORD) pid;
 	lpProcessInformation->dwThreadId = (DWORD) pid;
 
-	free(filename);
+	ret = TRUE;
+
+finish:
+	if (filename)
+	{
+		free(filename);
+	}
 
 	if (pArgs)
 	{
@@ -312,7 +326,7 @@ BOOL _CreateProcessExA(HANDLE hToken, DWORD dwLogonFlags,
 		free(envp);
 	}
 
-	return TRUE;
+	return ret;
 }
 
 BOOL CreateProcessA(LPCSTR lpApplicationName, LPSTR lpCommandLine, LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpProcessAttributes,