diff --git a/pkgs/dart_mcp/CHANGELOG.md b/pkgs/dart_mcp/CHANGELOG.md
index e85f132..6b84acc 100644
--- a/pkgs/dart_mcp/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/pkgs/dart_mcp/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
   - The old `reject` enum value was replaced with a static constant equal
     exactly to `decline`, so switches are not affected.
 - Add `title` parameter to `Prompt` constructor.
+- Only execute sub-processes in a shell if they are `.bat` files.
 
 ## 0.3.2
 
diff --git a/pkgs/dart_mcp_server/lib/src/utils/cli_utils.dart b/pkgs/dart_mcp_server/lib/src/utils/cli_utils.dart
index 524f0e3..9b595e3 100644
--- a/pkgs/dart_mcp_server/lib/src/utils/cli_utils.dart
+++ b/pkgs/dart_mcp_server/lib/src/utils/cli_utils.dart
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 // BSD-style license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
 import 'dart:async';
+import 'dart:io' as io;
 
 import 'package:collection/collection.dart';
 import 'package:dart_mcp/server.dart';
@@ -224,7 +225,10 @@ Future<CallToolResult> runCommandInRoot(
   final result = await processManager.run(
     commandWithPaths,
     workingDirectory: workingDir.path,
-    runInShell: true,
+    runInShell:
+        // Required when running .bat files on windows, but otherwise should
+        // be avoided due to escaping behavior.
+        io.Platform.isWindows && commandWithPaths.first.endsWith('.bat'),
   );
 
   final output = (result.stdout as String).trim();