diff --git a/contrib/win32/win32compat/shell-host.c b/contrib/win32/win32compat/shell-host.c
index 0388a27ca..acf67f1d2 100644
--- a/contrib/win32/win32compat/shell-host.c
+++ b/contrib/win32/win32compat/shell-host.c
@@ -1210,6 +1210,7 @@ get_default_shell_path()
 
 	memset(tmp, 0, PATH_MAX + 1);
 	memset(default_shell_path, 0, _countof(default_shell_path));
+	memset(default_shell_cmd_option, 0, _countof(default_shell_cmd_option));
 
 	if ((RegOpenKeyExW(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, L"SOFTWARE\\OpenSSH", 0, mask, &reg_key) == ERROR_SUCCESS) &&
 	    (RegQueryValueExW(reg_key, L"DefaultShell", 0, NULL, (LPBYTE)tmp, &tmp_len) == ERROR_SUCCESS) &&
@@ -1246,8 +1247,7 @@ get_default_shell_path()
 	/* if default shell is not configured then use cmd.exe as the default shell */
 	if (!is_default_shell_configured)
 		wcscat_s(default_shell_path, _countof(default_shell_path), cmd_exe_path);
-
-	memset(default_shell_cmd_option, 0, _countof(default_shell_cmd_option));
+	
 	if (!default_shell_cmd_option[0]) {
 		if (wcsstr(default_shell_path, L"cmd.exe") || wcsstr(default_shell_path, L"powershell.exe"))
 			wcscat_s(default_shell_cmd_option, _countof(default_shell_cmd_option), L" /c ");
diff --git a/regress/pesterTests/SSH.Tests.ps1 b/regress/pesterTests/SSH.Tests.ps1
index 2abb31928..f419d0c22 100644
--- a/regress/pesterTests/SSH.Tests.ps1
+++ b/regress/pesterTests/SSH.Tests.ps1
@@ -67,18 +67,22 @@ Describe "E2E scenarios for ssh client" -Tags "CI" {
                 Options = '-i $identifyFile -l $($server.localAdminUserName)'
             }
         )#>
-        $defaultRegistryPath = "HKLM:\Software\OpenSSH"
-        $registryKeyName = "DefaultShell"
+        $dfltShellRegPath = "HKLM:\Software\OpenSSH"
+        $dfltShellRegKeyName = "DefaultShell"
+        $dfltShellCmdOptionRegKeyName = "DefaultShellCommandOption"
 
         function ConfigureDefaultShell {
-            param([string]$default_shell_path)
+            param
+            (
+                  [string] $default_shell_path,
+                  [string] $default_shell_cmd_option_val
+            )
             
-            if (!(Test-Path $defaultRegistryPath)) {
-                New-Item -Path $defaultRegistryPath -Force | Out-Null
-                New-ItemProperty -Path $defaultRegistryPath -Name $registryKeyName -Value $default_shell_path -PropertyType String -Force
-            } else {
-                New-ItemProperty -Path $defaultRegistryPath -Name $registryKeyName -Value $default_shell_path -PropertyType String -Force
+            if (!(Test-Path $dfltShellRegPath)) {
+                New-Item -Path $dfltShellRegPath -Force | Out-Null
             }
+            New-ItemProperty -Path $dfltShellRegPath -Name $dfltShellRegKeyName -Value $default_shell_path -PropertyType String -Force
+            New-ItemProperty -Path $dfltShellRegPath -Name $dfltShellCmdOptionRegKeyName -Value $default_shell_cmd_option_val -PropertyType String -Force
         }
     }
 
@@ -149,13 +153,14 @@ Describe "E2E scenarios for ssh client" -Tags "CI" {
         BeforeAll {$tI=1}
         AfterAll{$tC++}
         AfterEach {
-            Remove-ItemProperty -Name $registryKeyName -Path $defaultRegistryPath -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+            Remove-ItemProperty -Path $dfltShellRegPath -Name $dfltShellRegKeyName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+            Remove-ItemProperty -Path $dfltShellRegPath -Name $dfltShellCmdOptionRegKeyName -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
         }
 
         It "$tC.$tI - default shell as powershell" {
             $shell_path = (Get-Command powershell.exe -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).path
             if($shell_path -ne $null) {
-                ConfigureDefaultShell -default_shell_path $shell_path
+                ConfigureDefaultShell -default_shell_path $shell_path -default_shell_cmd_option_val "/c"
 
                 $o = ssh test_target Write-Output 1234
                 $o | Should Be "1234"
@@ -165,7 +170,7 @@ Describe "E2E scenarios for ssh client" -Tags "CI" {
         It "$tC.$tI - default shell as cmd" {
             $shell_path = (Get-Command cmd.exe -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).path
             if($shell_path -ne $null) {
-                ConfigureDefaultShell -default_shell_path $shell_path
+                ConfigureDefaultShell -default_shell_path $shell_path -default_shell_cmd_option_val "/c"
 
                 $o = ssh test_target where cmd
                 $o | Should Contain "cmd"
@@ -232,7 +237,7 @@ Describe "E2E scenarios for ssh client" -Tags "CI" {
             $logFile | Should Contain "[::1]"            
         }
     }
-
+    
 
     
     <#Context "Key is not secured in ssh-agent on server" {