diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 37b2fa8d3b..b8128fab17 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -26,5 +26,6 @@ updates_key.pem
 *.m4a
 *.m4v
 *.part
+*.swp
 test/testdata
 .tox
diff --git a/youtube_dl/.__init__.py.swp b/youtube_dl/.__init__.py.swp
deleted file mode 100644
index 0586277fd4..0000000000
Binary files a/youtube_dl/.__init__.py.swp and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/youtube_dl/__init__.py b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
index 189a8ff358..4eae88d6c3 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/__init__.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@
     FFmpegExtractAudioPP,
     FFmpegEmbedSubtitlePP,
     XAttrMetadataPP,
-    ExecAfterDownload,
+    ExecAfterDownloadPP,
 )
 
 
@@ -865,7 +865,7 @@ def _real_main(argv=None):
         # Please keep ExecAfterDownload towards the bottom as it allows the user to modify the final file in any way.
         # So if the user is able to remove the file before your postprocessor runs it might cause a few problems.
         if opts.execstring:
-            ydl.add_post_processor(ExecAfterDownload(commandString=opts.execstring))
+            ydl.add_post_processor(ExecAfterDownloadPP(verboseOutput=opts.verbose,commandString=opts.execstring))
 
         # Update version
         if opts.update_self:
diff --git a/youtube_dl/postprocessor/__init__.py b/youtube_dl/postprocessor/__init__.py
index 59ab49e6d6..15aa0daa9b 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/postprocessor/__init__.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/postprocessor/__init__.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
     FFmpegEmbedSubtitlePP,
 )
 from .xattrpp import XAttrMetadataPP
-from .execafterdownload import ExecAfterDownload
+from .execafterdownload import ExecAfterDownloadPP
 
 __all__ = [
     'AtomicParsleyPP',
@@ -20,5 +20,5 @@
     'FFmpegExtractAudioPP',
     'FFmpegEmbedSubtitlePP',
     'XAttrMetadataPP',
-    'ExecAfterDownload',
+    'ExecAfterDownloadPP',
 ]
diff --git a/youtube_dl/postprocessor/execafterdownload.py b/youtube_dl/postprocessor/execafterdownload.py
index 431ab7f08d..e6f3cdfd22 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/postprocessor/execafterdownload.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/postprocessor/execafterdownload.py
@@ -1,36 +1,39 @@
-# ExecAfterDownload written by AaronM / mcd1992.
-# If there are any issues with this postprocessor please contact me via github or admin@fgthou.se
-
-import os, re, shlex
+from __future__ import unicode_literals
+from .common import PostProcessor
 from ..utils import PostProcessingError
+import subprocess
+import shlex
 
-class ExecAfterDownload( object ):
-    _downloader = None
 
-    def __init__( self, downloader = None, commandString = None ):
-        self._downloader = downloader
+class ExecAfterDownloadPP(PostProcessor):
+    def __init__(self, downloader=None, verboseOutput=None, commandString=None):
+        self.verboseOutput = verboseOutput
         self.commandString = commandString
 
-    def set_downloader( self, downloader ):
-        """Sets the downloader for this PP."""
-        self._downloader = downloader
+    def run(self, information):
+        self.targetFile = information['filepath'].replace('\'', '\'\\\'\'')  # Replace single quotes with '\''
+        self.commandList = shlex.split(self.commandString)
+        self.commandString = ''
 
-    def run( self, information ):
-        self.targetFile = information["filepath"]
-        self.finalCommand = None;
+        # Replace all instances of '{}' with the file name and convert argument list to single string.
+        for index, arg in enumerate(self.commandList):
+            if(arg == '{}'):
+                self.commandString += '\'' + self.targetFile + '\' '
+            else:
+                self.commandString += arg + ' '
 
-        if( re.search( '{}', self.commandString ) ): # Find and replace all occurrences of {} with the file name.
-            self.finalCommand = re.sub( "{}", '\'' + self.targetFile + '\'', self.commandString )
-        else:
-            self.finalCommand = self.commandString + ' \'' + self.targetFile + '\''
+        if self.targetFile not in self.commandString:  # Assume user wants the file appended to the end of the command if no {}'s were given.
+            self.commandString += '\'' + self.targetFile + '\''
 
-        if( self.finalCommand ):
-            print( "[exec] Executing command: " + self.finalCommand )
-            os.system( self.finalCommand )
-        else:
-            raise PostProcessingExecError( "Invalid syntax for --exec post processor" )
+        print("[exec] Executing command: " + self.commandString)
+        self.retCode = subprocess.call(self.commandString, shell=True)
+        if(self.retCode < 0):
+            print("[exec] WARNING: Command exited with a negative return code, the process was killed externally. Your command may not of completed succesfully!")
+        elif(self.verboseOutput):
+            print("[exec] Command exited with return code: " + str(self.retCode))
 
         return None, information  # by default, keep file and do nothing
 
-class PostProcessingExecError( PostProcessingError ):
+
+class PostProcessingExecError(PostProcessingError):
     pass