diff --git a/app.ts b/app.ts
index f018f64e9..cff90c01c 100755
--- a/app.ts
+++ b/app.ts
@@ -156,10 +156,14 @@ if (opts.tmpDir) {
 } else if (process.env.wsl) {
     // Dec 2017 preview builds of WSL include /bin/wslpath; do the parsing work for now.
     // Parsing example %TEMP% is C:\Users\apardoe\AppData\Local\Temp
-    const windowsTemp = child_process.execSync('cmd.exe /c echo %TEMP%').toString().replaceAll('\\', '/');
-    const driveLetter = windowsTemp.substring(0, 1).toLowerCase();
-    const directoryPath = windowsTemp.substring(2).trim();
-    process.env.winTmp = path.join('/mnt', driveLetter, directoryPath);
+    try {
+        const windowsTemp = child_process.execSync('cmd.exe /c echo %TEMP%').toString().replaceAll('\\', '/');
+        const driveLetter = windowsTemp.substring(0, 1).toLowerCase();
+        const directoryPath = windowsTemp.substring(2).trim();
+        process.env.winTmp = path.join('/mnt', driveLetter, directoryPath);
+    } catch (e) {
+        logger.warn('Unable to invoke cmd.exe to get windows %TEMP% path.');
+    }
 }
 
 const distPath = utils.resolvePathFromAppRoot('.');
diff --git a/docs/WindowsSubsystemForLinux.md b/docs/WindowsSubsystemForLinux.md
index 694146fec..5686bae4d 100644
--- a/docs/WindowsSubsystemForLinux.md
+++ b/docs/WindowsSubsystemForLinux.md
@@ -69,7 +69,8 @@ CE only required a few changes in order to run properly under WSL. Those changes
     WSL distros as they all run on the base Microsoft Linux kernel.
   - If the `-tmpDir` option is specified on the command line, both `process.env.tmpDir` and `process.env.winTmp` are set
     to the specified value Note that if this is specified as a non-Windows volume, Windows executables will fail to run
-    properly. Otherwise, `process.env.winTmp` is set to the value of the Windows `%TEMP%` directory.
+    properly. Otherwise, `process.env.winTmp` is set to the value of the Windows `%TEMP%` directory if CE can get the
+    temp path from invoking `cmd.exe` from WSL.
 - `lib/exec.js`: Execute the compiler in the temporary directory. If the compiler's binary is located on a mounted
   volume (`startsWith("/mnt"`)) and CE is running under WSL, run the compiler in the `winTmp` directory. Otherwise, use
   the Linux temp directory.
diff --git a/lib/compilers/wsl-vc.ts b/lib/compilers/wsl-vc.ts
index df465d06f..1908cb05f 100644
--- a/lib/compilers/wsl-vc.ts
+++ b/lib/compilers/wsl-vc.ts
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ export class WslVcCompiler extends Win32VcCompiler {
     // NPM temp package: https://www.npmjs.com/package/temp, see Affixes
     override newTempDir() {
         return new Promise<string>((resolve, reject) => {
-            temp.mkdir({prefix: 'compiler-explorer-compiler', dir: process.env.winTmp}, (err, dirPath) => {
+            temp.mkdir({prefix: 'compiler-explorer-compiler', dir: unwrap(process.env.winTmp)}, (err, dirPath) => {
                 if (err) reject(`Unable to open temp file: ${err}`);
                 else resolve(dirPath);
             });
diff --git a/lib/exec.ts b/lib/exec.ts
index d784bf447..27bf2c0c0 100644
--- a/lib/exec.ts
+++ b/lib/exec.ts
@@ -78,7 +78,8 @@ export function executeDirect(
     let okToCache = true;
     let timedOut = false;
     const cwd =
-        options.customCwd || (command.startsWith('/mnt') && process.env.wsl ? process.env.winTmp : process.env.tmpDir);
+        options.customCwd ||
+        (command.startsWith('/mnt') && process.env.wsl && process.env.winTmp ? process.env.winTmp : process.env.tmpDir);
     logger.debug('Execution', {type: 'executing', command: command, args: args, env: env, cwd: cwd});
     const startTime = process.hrtime.bigint();