diff --git a/gio/gdesktopappinfo.c b/gio/gdesktopappinfo.c
index aca7e9c37..6441156b5 100644
--- a/gio/gdesktopappinfo.c
+++ b/gio/gdesktopappinfo.c
@@ -2919,6 +2919,46 @@ g_desktop_app_info_launch_uris_with_spawn (GDesktopAppInfo            *info,
           emit_launch_started (launch_context, info, sn_id);
         }
 
+      g_assert (argc > 0);
+
+      if (!g_path_is_absolute (argv[0]) ||
+          !g_file_test (argv[0], G_FILE_TEST_IS_EXECUTABLE) ||
+          g_file_test (argv[0], G_FILE_TEST_IS_DIR))
+        {
+          char *program = g_steal_pointer (&argv[0]);
+          char *program_path = NULL;
+
+          if (!g_path_is_absolute (program))
+            {
+              const char *env_path = g_environ_getenv (envp, "PATH");
+
+              program_path = g_find_program_for_path (program,
+                                                      env_path,
+                                                      info->path);
+            }
+
+          if (program_path)
+            {
+              argv[0] = g_steal_pointer (&program_path);
+            }
+          else
+            {
+              if (sn_id)
+                g_app_launch_context_launch_failed (launch_context, sn_id);
+
+              g_set_error (error, G_SPAWN_ERROR, G_SPAWN_ERROR_NOENT,
+                           _("Program ‘%s’ not found in $PATH"),
+                           program);
+
+              g_free (program);
+              g_clear_pointer (&sn_id, g_free);
+              g_clear_list (&launched_uris, NULL);
+              goto out;
+            }
+
+          g_free (program);
+        }
+
       if (g_once_init_enter (&gio_launch_desktop_path))
         {
           const gchar *tmp = NULL;
diff --git a/gio/tests/desktop-app-info.c b/gio/tests/desktop-app-info.c
index c5e4f2f85..6749f6061 100644
--- a/gio/tests/desktop-app-info.c
+++ b/gio/tests/desktop-app-info.c
@@ -1697,6 +1697,102 @@ test_app_path_wrong (void)
   g_clear_object (&appinfo);
 }
 
+static void
+test_launch_startup_notify_fail (void)
+{
+  GAppInfo *app_info;
+  GAppLaunchContext *context;
+  GError *error = NULL;
+  gboolean launch_started;
+  gboolean launch_failed;
+  gboolean launched;
+  GList *uris;
+
+  app_info = g_app_info_create_from_commandline ("this-must-not-exist‼",
+                                                 "failing app",
+                                                 G_APP_INFO_CREATE_NONE |
+                                                 G_APP_INFO_CREATE_SUPPORTS_STARTUP_NOTIFICATION,
+                                                 &error);
+  g_assert_no_error (error);
+
+  context = g_object_new (test_launch_context_get_type (), NULL);
+  g_signal_connect (context, "launch-started",
+                    G_CALLBACK (on_launch_started),
+                    &launch_started);
+  g_signal_connect (context, "launched",
+                    G_CALLBACK (on_launch_started),
+                    &launched);
+  g_signal_connect (context, "launch-failed",
+                    G_CALLBACK (on_launch_failed),
+                    &launch_failed);
+
+  launch_started = FALSE;
+  launch_failed = FALSE;
+  launched = FALSE;
+  uris = g_list_prepend (NULL, g_file_new_for_uri ("foo://bar"));
+  uris = g_list_prepend (uris, g_file_new_for_uri ("bar://foo"));
+  g_assert_false (g_app_info_launch (app_info, uris, context, &error));
+  g_assert_error (error, G_SPAWN_ERROR, G_SPAWN_ERROR_NOENT);
+  g_assert_true (launch_started);
+  g_assert_true (launch_failed);
+  g_assert_false (launched);
+
+  g_clear_error (&error);
+  g_clear_object (&app_info);
+  g_clear_object (&context);
+  g_clear_list (&uris, g_object_unref);
+}
+
+static void
+test_launch_fail (void)
+{
+  GAppInfo *app_info;
+  GError *error = NULL;
+
+  app_info = g_app_info_create_from_commandline ("this-must-not-exist‼",
+                                                 "failing app",
+                                                 G_APP_INFO_CREATE_NONE,
+                                                 &error);
+  g_assert_no_error (error);
+
+  g_assert_false (g_app_info_launch (app_info, NULL, NULL, &error));
+  g_assert_error (error, G_SPAWN_ERROR, G_SPAWN_ERROR_NOENT);
+
+  g_clear_error (&error);
+  g_clear_object (&app_info);
+}
+
+static void
+test_launch_fail_absolute_path (void)
+{
+  GAppInfo *app_info;
+  GError *error = NULL;
+
+  app_info = g_app_info_create_from_commandline ("/nothing/of/this-must-exist‼",
+                                                 NULL,
+                                                 G_APP_INFO_CREATE_NONE,
+                                                 &error);
+  g_assert_no_error (error);
+
+  g_assert_false (g_app_info_launch (app_info, NULL, NULL, &error));
+  g_assert_error (error, G_SPAWN_ERROR, G_SPAWN_ERROR_NOENT);
+
+  g_clear_error (&error);
+  g_clear_object (&app_info);
+
+  app_info = g_app_info_create_from_commandline ("/",
+                                                 NULL,
+                                                 G_APP_INFO_CREATE_NONE,
+                                                 &error);
+  g_assert_no_error (error);
+
+  g_assert_false (g_app_info_launch (app_info, NULL, NULL, &error));
+  g_assert_error (error, G_SPAWN_ERROR, G_SPAWN_ERROR_NOENT);
+
+  g_clear_error (&error);
+  g_clear_object (&app_info);
+}
+
 int
 main (int   argc,
       char *argv[])
@@ -1736,6 +1832,9 @@ main (int   argc,
   g_test_add_func ("/desktop-app-info/show-in", test_show_in);
   g_test_add_func ("/desktop-app-info/app-path", test_app_path);
   g_test_add_func ("/desktop-app-info/app-path/wrong", test_app_path_wrong);
+  g_test_add_func ("/desktop-app-info/launch/fail", test_launch_fail);
+  g_test_add_func ("/desktop-app-info/launch/fail-absolute-path", test_launch_fail_absolute_path);
+  g_test_add_func ("/desktop-app-info/launch/fail-startup-notify", test_launch_startup_notify_fail);
   g_test_add_func ("/desktop-app-info/launch-as-manager", test_launch_as_manager);
   g_test_add_func ("/desktop-app-info/launch-as-manager/fail", test_launch_as_manager_fail);
   g_test_add_func ("/desktop-app-info/launch-default-uri-handler", test_default_uri_handler);