diff --git a/ext/standard/proc_open.c b/ext/standard/proc_open.c
index 2848652fdac..58f1c29ade2 100644
--- a/ext/standard/proc_open.c
+++ b/ext/standard/proc_open.c
@@ -485,9 +485,7 @@ PHP_FUNCTION(proc_open)
 		RETURN_FALSE;
 	}
 
-	if (cwd_len==0) {
-		cwd = NULL;
-	}
+	command_len = strlen(command);
 
 	if (environment) {
 		env = _php_array_to_envp(environment, is_persistent TSRMLS_CC);