diff --git a/lib-src/libnyquist/nyx.c b/lib-src/libnyquist/nyx.c
index 59973f60c..a5e770732 100644
--- a/lib-src/libnyquist/nyx.c
+++ b/lib-src/libnyquist/nyx.c
@@ -1327,12 +1327,11 @@ void oscheck(void)
 /* xsystem - execute a system command */
 LVAL xsystem()
 {
-   if (moreargs()) {
-      unsigned char *cmd;
-      cmd = (unsigned char *)getstring(xlgastring());
-      fprintf(stderr, "Will not execute system command: %s\n", cmd);
-   }
-   return s_true;
+   char *cmd="COMMAND";
+   if (moreargs())
+      cmd = (char *)getstring(xlgastring());
+   xllastarg();
+   return (system(cmd) == 0 ? s_true : cvfixnum((FIXTYPE)errno));
 }
 
 /* xsetdir -- set current directory of the process */