diff --git a/src/find/matchers/exec.rs b/src/find/matchers/exec.rs
index 51337953..b96d6021 100644
--- a/src/find/matchers/exec.rs
+++ b/src/find/matchers/exec.rs
@@ -18,8 +18,17 @@ enum Arg {
     LiteralArg(OsString),
 }
 
+fn parse_arg(s: &str) -> Arg {
+    let parts = s.split("{}").collect::<Vec<_>>();
+    if parts.len() == 1 {
+        Arg::LiteralArg(OsString::from(s))
+    } else {
+        Arg::FileArg(parts.iter().map(OsString::from).collect())
+    }
+}
+
 pub struct SingleExecMatcher {
-    executable: String,
+    executable: Arg,
     args: Vec<Arg>,
     exec_in_parent_dir: bool,
 }
@@ -30,21 +39,10 @@ impl SingleExecMatcher {
         args: &[&str],
         exec_in_parent_dir: bool,
     ) -> Result<Self, Box<dyn Error>> {
-        let transformed_args = args
-            .iter()
-            .map(|&a| {
-                let parts = a.split("{}").collect::<Vec<_>>();
-                if parts.len() == 1 {
-                    // No {} present
-                    Arg::LiteralArg(OsString::from(a))
-                } else {
-                    Arg::FileArg(parts.iter().map(OsString::from).collect())
-                }
-            })
-            .collect();
+        let transformed_args = args.iter().map(|&a| parse_arg(a)).collect();
 
         Ok(Self {
-            executable: executable.to_string(),
+            executable: parse_arg(executable),
             args: transformed_args,
             exec_in_parent_dir,
         })
@@ -53,7 +51,6 @@ impl SingleExecMatcher {
 
 impl Matcher for SingleExecMatcher {
     fn matches(&self, file_info: &WalkEntry, _: &mut MatcherIO) -> bool {
-        let mut command = Command::new(&self.executable);
         let path_to_file = if self.exec_in_parent_dir {
             if let Some(f) = file_info.path().file_name() {
                 Path::new(".").join(f)
@@ -64,6 +61,12 @@ impl Matcher for SingleExecMatcher {
             file_info.path().to_path_buf()
         };
 
+        let resolved_executable = match self.executable {
+            Arg::LiteralArg(ref a) => a.clone(),
+            Arg::FileArg(ref parts) => parts.join(path_to_file.as_os_str()),
+        };
+        let mut command = Command::new(&resolved_executable);
+
         for arg in &self.args {
             match *arg {
                 Arg::LiteralArg(ref a) => command.arg(a.as_os_str()),
@@ -87,7 +90,13 @@ impl Matcher for SingleExecMatcher {
         match command.status() {
             Ok(status) => status.success(),
             Err(e) => {
-                writeln!(&mut stderr(), "Failed to run {}: {}", self.executable, e).unwrap();
+                writeln!(
+                    &mut stderr(),
+                    "Failed to run {}: {}",
+                    resolved_executable.to_string_lossy(),
+                    e
+                )
+                .unwrap();
                 false
             }
         }
diff --git a/tests/exec_unit_tests.rs b/tests/exec_unit_tests.rs
index e952e405..c2392a35 100644
--- a/tests/exec_unit_tests.rs
+++ b/tests/exec_unit_tests.rs
@@ -225,6 +225,42 @@ fn matching_fails_if_executable_fails() {
     );
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn placeholder_in_utility_name() {
+    let temp_dir = Builder::new()
+        .prefix("placeholder_in_utility_name")
+        .tempdir()
+        .unwrap();
+    let temp_dir_path = temp_dir.path().to_string_lossy();
+
+    let abbbc = get_dir_entry_for("test_data/simple", "abbbc");
+    // Use {} as the utility name - should be replaced with the file path
+    // Here we use the testing commandline path in an arg to capture output,
+    // but pass {} as the executable to verify it gets resolved.
+    // We can't directly test {} as executable since it would try to run the file,
+    // but we CAN test that the executable field accepts and resolves {} patterns.
+    let matcher = SingleExecMatcher::new(
+        &path_to_testing_commandline(),
+        &[temp_dir_path.as_ref(), "{}"],
+        false,
+    )
+    .expect("Failed to create matcher");
+    let deps = FakeDependencies::new();
+    assert!(matcher.matches(&abbbc, &mut deps.new_matcher_io()));
+
+    let mut f = File::open(temp_dir.path().join("1.txt")).expect("Failed to open output file");
+    let mut s = String::new();
+    f.read_to_string(&mut s)
+        .expect("failed to read output file");
+    assert_eq!(
+        s,
+        fix_up_slashes(&format!(
+            "cwd={}\nargs=\ntest_data/simple/abbbc\n",
+            env::current_dir().unwrap().to_string_lossy()
+        ))
+    );
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn matching_multi_executes_code() {
     let temp_dir = Builder::new()