diff --git a/jetty-start/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/start/StartArgs.java b/jetty-start/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/start/StartArgs.java
index 067c22b1b73..d1e6623ad02 100644
--- a/jetty-start/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/start/StartArgs.java
+++ b/jetty-start/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/start/StartArgs.java
@@ -508,7 +508,7 @@ public class StartArgs
         ensureSystemPropertySet("STOP.WAIT");
 
         // pass properties as args or as a file
-        if (dryRun)
+        if (dryRun || isExec())
         {
             for (Prop p : properties)
                 cmd.addRawArg(CommandLineBuilder.quote(p.key)+"="+CommandLineBuilder.quote(p.value));