diff --git a/packages/cli-app/src/exec.js b/packages/cli-app/src/exec.js
index 10b54de21..e440566a3 100644
--- a/packages/cli-app/src/exec.js
+++ b/packages/cli-app/src/exec.js
@@ -182,13 +182,17 @@ export function maybeInjectScreenshotDir(ctx, log) {
 
 export const exec = command('exec', {
   description: 'Start and stop Percy around a supplied command for native apps',
-  usage: '[options] -- <command>',
+  usage: '[options] [--] <command>',
   commands: [start, stop, ping],
 
   flags: ExecPlugin.default.definition
   // grouped flags are built-in flags
     .flags.filter(f => !f.group),
 
+  // some environments (e.g. npx PowerShell shims) strip the `--` separator;
+  // fall back to loose parsing like `percy exec` instead of hard failing
+  loose: ExecPlugin.default.definition.loose,
+
   percy: {
     server: true,
     projectType: 'app',
diff --git a/packages/cli-app/test/exec.test.js b/packages/cli-app/test/exec.test.js
index b114676af..44b036dc2 100644
--- a/packages/cli-app/test/exec.test.js
+++ b/packages/cli-app/test/exec.test.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import fs from 'fs';
 import os from 'os';
 import path from 'path';
-import { setupTest } from '@percy/cli-command/test/helpers';
+import { logger, setupTest } from '@percy/cli-command/test/helpers';
 import * as ExecPlugin from '@percy/cli-exec';
 import {
   exec, start, stop, ping,
@@ -28,12 +28,41 @@ describe('percy app:exec', () => {
   });
 
   it('does not accept asset discovery options', async () => {
-    await expectAsync(exec(['--allowed-hostname', 'percy.io']))
-      .toBeRejectedWithError("Unknown option '--allowed-hostname'");
     await expectAsync(start(['--network-idle-timeout', '500']))
       .toBeRejectedWithError("Unknown option '--network-idle-timeout'");
   });
 
+  it('degrades unrecognized exec options into the command (loose parsing trade-off)', async () => {
+    // with loose parsing, exec no longer hard-rejects unknown flags with
+    // "Unknown option" — a typo like --allowed-hostname falls through to
+    // command lookup and fails there instead
+    let { default: which } = await import('which');
+    spyOn(which, 'sync').and.returnValue(null);
+
+    await expectAsync(exec(['--allowed-hostname', 'percy.io']))
+      .toBeRejectedWithError('Command not found "--allowed-hostname"');
+  });
+
+  it('parses loosely when the command separator is missing', async () => {
+    // some environments (e.g. npx PowerShell shims) strip the `--` separator;
+    // the command should warn and run instead of throwing a parse error
+    expect(exec.definition.loose).toEqual(ExecPlugin.default.definition.loose);
+
+    // stub command resolution so no real binary is looked up or spawned; the
+    // "Command not found" rejection proves `dotnet` was parsed as the command
+    // (not rejected as an unexpected argument) before reaching the lookup
+    let { default: which } = await import('which');
+    spyOn(which, 'sync').and.returnValue(null);
+
+    await expectAsync(exec(['dotnet', 'test']))
+      .toBeRejectedWithError('Command not found "dotnet"');
+
+    expect(logger.stderr).toEqual(jasmine.arrayContaining([
+      `[percy] ${ExecPlugin.default.definition.loose}`,
+      '[percy] Error: Command not found "dotnet"'
+    ]));
+  });
+
   describe('maybeInjectMaestroServer', () => {
     function ctxFor(argv, addr = 'http://localhost:5338') {
       return {
diff --git a/packages/cli-exec/src/exec.js b/packages/cli-exec/src/exec.js
index be4850e86..cfa6d81ac 100644
--- a/packages/cli-exec/src/exec.js
+++ b/packages/cli-exec/src/exec.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import { waitForTimeout } from '@percy/client/utils';
 
 export const exec = command('exec', {
   description: 'Start and stop Percy around a supplied command',
-  usage: '[options] -- <command>',
+  usage: '[options] [--] <command>',
   commands: [start, stop, ping, replay],
 
   flags: [{