diff --git a/src/util/CMakeLists.txt b/src/util/CMakeLists.txt
index 4999dbf13f0..0ae9a08eebb 100644
--- a/src/util/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/util/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ add_library(bitcoin_util STATIC EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL
   bytevectorhash.cpp
   chaintype.cpp
   check.cpp
+  exec.cpp
   exception.cpp
   feefrac.cpp
   fs.cpp
diff --git a/src/util/exec.cpp b/src/util/exec.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0f13d1d4af3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util/exec.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2025 The Bitcoin Core developers
+// Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
+// file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
+
+#include <util/exec.h>
+
+#include <util/fs.h>
+#include <util/subprocess.h>
+
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+
+#ifdef WIN32
+#include <process.h>
+#include <windows.h>
+#else
+#include <unistd.h>
+#endif
+
+namespace util {
+int ExecVp(const char* file, char* const argv[])
+{
+#ifndef WIN32
+    return execvp(file, argv);
+#else
+    std::vector<std::wstring> escaped_args;
+    std::wstring_convert<std::codecvt_utf8_utf16<wchar_t>> converter;
+    for (char* const* arg_ptr{argv}; *arg_ptr; ++arg_ptr) {
+        subprocess::util::quote_argument(converter.from_bytes(*arg_ptr), escaped_args.emplace_back(), false);
+    }
+
+    std::vector<const wchar_t*> new_argv;
+    new_argv.reserve(escaped_args.size() + 1);
+    for (const auto& s : escaped_args) new_argv.push_back(s.c_str());
+    new_argv.push_back(nullptr);
+    return _wexecvp(converter.from_bytes(file).c_str(), new_argv.data());
+#endif
+}
+
+fs::path GetExePath(std::string_view argv0)
+{
+    // Try to figure out where executable is located. This does a simplified
+    // search that won't work perfectly on every platform and doesn't need to,
+    // as it is only currently being used in a convenience wrapper binary to try
+    // to prioritize locally built or installed executables over system
+    // executables.
+    const fs::path argv0_path{fs::PathFromString(std::string{argv0})};
+    fs::path path{argv0_path};
+    std::error_code ec;
+#ifndef WIN32
+    // If argv0 doesn't contain a path separator, it was invoked from the system
+    // PATH and can be searched for there.
+    if (!argv0_path.has_parent_path()) {
+        if (const char* path_env = std::getenv("PATH")) {
+            size_t start{0}, end{0};
+            for (std::string_view paths{path_env}; end != std::string_view::npos; start = end + 1) {
+                end = paths.find(':', start);
+                fs::path candidate = fs::path(paths.substr(start, end - start)) / argv0_path;
+                if (fs::is_regular_file(candidate, ec)) {
+                    path = candidate;
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+#else
+    wchar_t module_path[MAX_PATH];
+    if (GetModuleFileNameW(nullptr, module_path, MAX_PATH) > 0) {
+        path = fs::path{module_path};
+    }
+#endif
+    return path;
+}
+
+} // namespace util
diff --git a/src/util/exec.h b/src/util/exec.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4c207265fa0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util/exec.h
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2025 The Bitcoin Core developers
+// Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
+// file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
+
+#ifndef BITCOIN_UTIL_EXEC_H
+#define BITCOIN_UTIL_EXEC_H
+
+#include <util/fs.h>
+
+#include <string_view>
+
+namespace util {
+//! Cross-platform wrapper for POSIX execvp function.
+//! Arguments and return value are the same as for POSIX execvp, and the argv
+//! array should consist of null terminated strings and be null terminated
+//! itself, like the POSIX function.
+int ExecVp(const char* file, char* const argv[]);
+//! Return path to current executable assuming it was invoked with argv0.
+//! If path could not be determined, returns an empty path.
+fs::path GetExePath(std::string_view argv0);
+} // namespace util
+
+#endif // BITCOIN_UTIL_EXEC_H