diff --git a/Sources/SwiftDriver/Driver/Driver.swift b/Sources/SwiftDriver/Driver/Driver.swift
index 291650956..d7e213b08 100644
--- a/Sources/SwiftDriver/Driver/Driver.swift
+++ b/Sources/SwiftDriver/Driver/Driver.swift
@@ -77,8 +77,11 @@ public struct Driver {
 
     public var description: String {
       switch self {
-      case .unknownOrMissingSubcommand(let subcommand):
-        return "unknown or missing subcommand '\(subcommand)'"
+      case .unknownOrMissingSubcommand(let executableName):
+        return """
+          unknown or missing subcommand '\(executableName)'
+          The executable `\(executableName)` could not be found adjacent to this executable or in the program search path.
+          """
       case .invalidDriverName(let driverName):
         return "invalid driver name: \(driverName)"
       case .invalidInput(let input):
diff --git a/Sources/swift-driver/main.swift b/Sources/swift-driver/main.swift
index 8c2a75ef0..f7bcdcfe5 100644
--- a/Sources/swift-driver/main.swift
+++ b/Sources/swift-driver/main.swift
@@ -118,21 +118,28 @@ do {
   }
 
   let (mode, arguments) = try Driver.invocationRunMode(forArgs: CommandLine.arguments)
-  if case .subcommand(let subcommand) = mode {
+  if case .subcommand(let executableName) = mode {
     // We are running as a subcommand, try to find the subcommand adjacent to the executable we are running as.
     // If we didn't find the tool there, let the OS search for it.
     let subcommandPath: AbsolutePath?
-    if let executablePath = Process.findExecutable(CommandLine.arguments[0]) {
-      // Attempt to resolve the executable symlink in order to be able to
-      // resolve compiler-adjacent library locations.
-      subcommandPath = try TSCBasic.resolveSymlinks(executablePath).parentDirectory.appending(component: subcommand)
+
+    // Before falling back to a standard executable search, check if there's a correctly named file adjacent to
+    // this executable. This is given priority to make sure builtin subcommands have the expected behavior:
+    // `/path/to/swift/install/swift-build` should be given higher priority than whatever program the user has
+    // installed that's called `swift-build`.
+    if let thisExecutablePath = Process.findExecutable(CommandLine.arguments[0]),
+      let adjacentPath = try? TSCBasic.resolveSymlinks(thisExecutablePath)
+        .parentDirectory.appending(component: executableName),
+      localFileSystem.isExecutableFile(adjacentPath)
+    {
+      subcommandPath = adjacentPath
     } else {
-      subcommandPath = Process.findExecutable(subcommand)
+      subcommandPath = Process.findExecutable(executableName)
     }
 
     guard let subcommandPath = subcommandPath,
           localFileSystem.exists(subcommandPath) else {
-      throw Driver.Error.unknownOrMissingSubcommand(subcommand)
+      throw Driver.Error.unknownOrMissingSubcommand(executableName)
     }
 
     // Pass the full path to subcommand executable.