diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Process/ProcessBuilder.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Process/ProcessBuilder.php
index 71633cd7fac3c..07f8be42eab1d 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Process/ProcessBuilder.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Process/ProcessBuilder.php
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 use Symfony\Component\Process\Exception\InvalidArgumentException;
 use Symfony\Component\Process\Exception\LogicException;
+use Symfony\Component\Process\Exception\RuntimeException;
 
 /**
  * Process builder.
@@ -30,6 +31,12 @@ class ProcessBuilder
     private $inheritEnv = true;
     private $prefix = array();
     private $outputDisabled = false;
+    private $shellWrapperEnabled = false;
+
+    /**
+     * @var bool
+     */
+    private static $sigchild;
 
     /**
      * Constructor
@@ -251,6 +258,40 @@ public function enableOutput()
         return $this;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Do not enable the shell wrapper (i.e. do not prepend the executed command with "exec").
+     *
+     * @return ProcessBuilder
+     */
+    public function disableShellWrapper()
+    {
+        $this->shellWrapperEnabled = false;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Enable the shell wrapper (i.e. prepend the executed command with "exec").
+     *
+     * @return ProcessBuilder
+     *
+     * @throws RuntimeException if the OS is Windows or if PHP was built with --enable-sigchild
+     */
+    public function enableShellWrapper()
+    {
+        if (defined('PHP_WINDOWS_VERSION_BUILD')) {
+            throw new RuntimeException('The shell wrapper is not supported on Windows platforms.');
+        }
+
+        if ($this->isSigchildEnabled()) {
+            throw new RuntimeException('This PHP has been compiled with --enable-sigchild. The shell wrapper cannot be enabled.');
+        }
+
+        $this->shellWrapperEnabled = true;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Creates a Process instance and returns it.
      *
@@ -269,6 +310,10 @@ public function getProcess()
         $arguments = array_merge($this->prefix, $this->arguments);
         $script = implode(' ', array_map(array(__NAMESPACE__.'\\ProcessUtils', 'escapeArgument'), $arguments));
 
+        if ($this->shellWrapperEnabled) {
+            $script = 'exec '.$script;
+        }
+
         if ($this->inheritEnv) {
             // include $_ENV for BC purposes
             $env = array_replace($_ENV, $_SERVER, $this->env);
@@ -284,4 +329,25 @@ public function getProcess()
 
         return $process;
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns whether PHP has been compiled with the '--enable-sigchild' option or not.
+     *
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    private function isSigchildEnabled()
+    {
+        if (null !== self::$sigchild) {
+            return self::$sigchild;
+        }
+
+        if (!function_exists('phpinfo')) {
+            return self::$sigchild = false;
+        }
+
+        ob_start();
+        phpinfo(INFO_GENERAL);
+
+        return self::$sigchild = false !== strpos(ob_get_clean(), '--enable-sigchild');
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Process/Tests/ProcessBuilderTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Process/Tests/ProcessBuilderTest.php
index e864f6623456b..877e3e88c2fd2 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Process/Tests/ProcessBuilderTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Process/Tests/ProcessBuilderTest.php
@@ -11,10 +11,13 @@
 
 namespace Symfony\Component\Process\Tests;
 
+use Symfony\Component\Process\Exception\RuntimeException;
 use Symfony\Component\Process\ProcessBuilder;
 
 class ProcessBuilderTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
 {
+    private static $sigchild;
+
     public function testInheritEnvironmentVars()
     {
         $_ENV['MY_VAR_1'] = 'foo';
@@ -222,4 +225,84 @@ public function testInvalidInput()
         $builder = ProcessBuilder::create();
         $builder->setInput(array());
     }
+
+    public function testShouldNotPrependCommandLineWithExecByDefault()
+    {
+        $process = ProcessBuilder::create()
+            ->add('foo')
+            ->getProcess();
+
+        $this->assertNotRegExp('/^exec /', $process->getCommandLine());
+    }
+
+    public function testShouldPrependCommandLineWithExec()
+    {
+        if ($this->isSigchildEnabled()) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped('->enableShellWrapper() is not supported in sigchild environment');
+        }
+
+        $process = ProcessBuilder::create()
+            ->add('foo')
+            ->enableShellWrapper()
+            ->getProcess();
+
+        $this->assertRegExp('/^exec /', $process->getCommandLine());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @expectedException RuntimeException
+     * @expectedExceptionMessage The shell wrapper is not supported on Windows platforms.
+     */
+    public function testEnableShellWrapperOnWindowsThrowsException()
+    {
+        if (!defined('PHP_WINDOWS_VERSION_BUILD')) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped('->enableShellWrapper() is not supported on Windows');
+        }
+
+        ProcessBuilder::create()->enableShellWrapper();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @expectedException RuntimeException
+     * @expectedExceptionMessage This PHP has been compiled with --enable-sigchild. The shell wrapper cannot be enabled.
+     */
+    public function testEnableShellWrapperInSigchildEnvironmentThrowsException()
+    {
+        if (!$this->isSigchildEnabled()) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped('->enableShellWrapper() is not supported in sigchild environment');
+        }
+
+        ProcessBuilder::create()->enableShellWrapper();
+    }
+
+    public function testShouldNotPrependCommandLineWithExec()
+    {
+        $process = ProcessBuilder::create()
+            ->add('foo')
+            ->disableShellWrapper()
+            ->getProcess();
+
+        $this->assertNotRegExp('/^exec /', $process->getCommandLine());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns whether PHP has been compiled with the '--enable-sigchild' option or not.
+     *
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    private function isSigchildEnabled()
+    {
+        if (null !== self::$sigchild) {
+            return self::$sigchild;
+        }
+
+        if (!function_exists('phpinfo')) {
+            return self::$sigchild = false;
+        }
+
+        ob_start();
+        phpinfo(INFO_GENERAL);
+
+        return self::$sigchild = false !== strpos(ob_get_clean(), '--enable-sigchild');
+    }
 }