diff --git a/src/gateway/cron-exit-watch-shell.ts b/src/gateway/cron-exit-watch-shell.ts
index db59c9eb1469..b769737dd6c4 100644
--- a/src/gateway/cron-exit-watch-shell.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/cron-exit-watch-shell.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ export function resolveExitWatchShell(platform: NodeJS.Platform = process.platfo
 } {
   if (platform === "win32") {
     return {
-      command: process.env.ComSpec ?? "cmd.exe",
+      command: process.env.ComSpec?.trim() || "cmd.exe",
       // /d skip AutoRun, /s strip outer quotes, /c run then exit.
       argsFor: (command: string) => ["/d", "/s", "/c", command],
     };
diff --git a/src/gateway/cron-exit-watchers.test.ts b/src/gateway/cron-exit-watchers.test.ts
index caa45ffadcba..939cf304c149 100644
--- a/src/gateway/cron-exit-watchers.test.ts
+++ b/src/gateway/cron-exit-watchers.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { expectDefined } from "@openclaw/normalization-core";
-import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+import { afterEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 import type { CronJob } from "../cron/types.js";
 import { resolveExitWatchShell } from "./cron-exit-watch-shell.js";
 import { createCronExitWatchers, type CronExitResult } from "./cron-exit-watchers.js";
@@ -437,12 +437,21 @@ describe("createCronExitWatchers", () => {
 });
 
 describe("resolveExitWatchShell", () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.unstubAllEnvs();
+  });
+
   it("uses cmd.exe on Windows so native gateways without bash can run on-exit", () => {
     const shell = resolveExitWatchShell("win32");
     expect(shell.command).toMatch(/cmd\.exe$/i);
     expect(shell.argsFor("echo hi")).toEqual(["/d", "/s", "/c", "echo hi"]);
   });
 
+  it("uses cmd.exe when ComSpec is blank", () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("ComSpec", "   ");
+    expect(resolveExitWatchShell("win32").command).toBe("cmd.exe");
+  });
+
   it("uses bash -lc on POSIX", () => {
     expect(resolveExitWatchShell("linux").command).toBe("bash");
     expect(resolveExitWatchShell("linux").argsFor("echo hi")).toEqual(["-lc", "echo hi"]);