diff --git a/src/cli/upgrade-plugins.js b/src/cli/upgrade-plugins.js
index 92cc980fa2..4949ef619f 100644
--- a/src/cli/upgrade-plugins.js
+++ b/src/cli/upgrade-plugins.js
@@ -148,8 +148,11 @@ async function upgradePlugins(unattended = false) {
 		if (['y', 'Y', 'yes', 'YES'].includes(result.upgrade)) {
 			console.log('\nUpgrading packages...');
 			const args = packageManagerInstallArgs.concat(found.map(suggestObj => `${suggestObj.name}@${suggestObj.suggested}`));
-
-			cproc.execFileSync(packageManagerExecutable, args, { stdio: 'ignore' });
+			const options = { stdio: 'ignore' };
+			if (process.platform === 'win32') {
+				options.shell = true;
+			}
+			cproc.execFileSync(packageManagerExecutable, args, options);
 		} else {
 			console.log(`${chalk.yellow('Package upgrades skipped')}. Check for upgrades at any time by running "${chalk.green('./nodebb upgrade -p')}".`);
 		}