diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 0ceaf189f..a3737fe7b 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -405,14 +405,15 @@ Command.prototype.executeSubCommand = function(argv, args, unknown) {
 
   // check for ./<bin> first
   var local = path.join(dir, bin);
-  if (exists(local)) bin = local;
 
   // run it
   args = args.slice(1);
-  var proc = spawn(bin, args, { stdio: 'inherit', customFds: [0, 1, 2] });
-  proc.on('exit', function(code){
-    if (code == 127) {
-      console.error('\n  %s(1) does not exist\n', bin);
+  var proc = spawn(local, args, { stdio: 'inherit', customFds: [0, 1, 2] });
+  proc.on('error', function(err){
+    if (err.code == "ENOENT") {
+      console.error('\n  %s(1) does not exist, try --help\n', bin);
+    } else if (err.code == "EACCES") {
+      console.error('\n  %s(1) not executable. try chmod or run with root\n', bin);
     }
   });
 };