diff --git a/swiftide-docker-executor/Dockerfile.tests b/swiftide-docker-executor/Dockerfile.tests
index 49073c5..4f093e1 100644
--- a/swiftide-docker-executor/Dockerfile.tests
+++ b/swiftide-docker-executor/Dockerfile.tests
@@ -11,3 +11,4 @@ COPY . /app
 
 WORKDIR /app/
 
+ENV TEST_VAR="test"
diff --git a/swiftide-docker-executor/src/tests.rs b/swiftide-docker-executor/src/tests.rs
index c38921d..465a639 100644
--- a/swiftide-docker-executor/src/tests.rs
+++ b/swiftide-docker-executor/src/tests.rs
@@ -60,6 +60,33 @@ async fn test_runs_docker_and_echos() {
     );
 }
 
+#[test_log::test(tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread"))]
+async fn test_shell_reads_etc_profile() {
+    let executor = DockerExecutor::default()
+        .with_dockerfile(TEST_DOCKERFILE)
+        .with_context_path(".")
+        .with_image_name("test-etc-profile")
+        .to_owned()
+        .start()
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+
+    // Append a marker export to /etc/profile inside the container
+    let append_cmd = r#"printf '\nexport PROFILE_MARKER=from_profile\n' >> /etc/profile && tail -n 5 /etc/profile"#;
+    let _ = executor
+        .exec_cmd(&Command::shell(append_cmd))
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+
+    // Now run a simple shell command that should see the marker via login shell
+    let output = executor
+        .exec_cmd(&Command::shell("echo $PROFILE_MARKER"))
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+
+    assert_eq!(output.to_string(), "from_profile");
+}
+
 #[test_log::test(tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread"))]
 async fn test_runs_on_alpine() {
     let executor = DockerExecutor::default()
@@ -872,12 +899,36 @@ async fn test_clear_env() {
 
     let output = executor.exec_cmd(&Command::shell("env")).await.unwrap();
 
-    // Check that common host env vars are not present
+    // TEST_VAR is set via Dockerfile.tests; with clear_env it should be absent
     let env_output = output.to_string();
     dbg!(&env_output);
-    assert!(!env_output.contains("HOME="), "HOME env propagated");
-    assert!(!env_output.contains("HOSTNAME="), "HOSTNAME env propagated");
-    assert!(!env_output.contains("PATH="), "PATH env propagated");
+    assert!(
+        !env_output.contains("TEST_VAR=test"),
+        "TEST_VAR should be cleared when clear_env is set"
+    );
+}
+
+#[test_log::test(tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread"))]
+async fn test_no_clear_env() {
+    // test that common host env vars are set in the container
+    let executor = DockerExecutor::default()
+        .with_dockerfile(TEST_DOCKERFILE)
+        .with_context_path(".")
+        .with_image_name("test-no-env")
+        .to_owned()
+        .start()
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+
+    let output = executor.exec_cmd(&Command::shell("env")).await.unwrap();
+
+    // TEST_VAR is set via Dockerfile.tests; without clear_env it should be present
+    let env_output = output.to_string();
+    dbg!(&env_output);
+    assert!(
+        env_output.contains("TEST_VAR=test"),
+        "TEST_VAR should be present without clear_env"
+    );
 }
 
 #[test_log::test(tokio::test(flavor = "multi_thread"))]
diff --git a/swiftide-docker-service/src/executor.rs b/swiftide-docker-service/src/executor.rs
index 549562a..bfd8848 100644
--- a/swiftide-docker-service/src/executor.rs
+++ b/swiftide-docker-service/src/executor.rs
@@ -46,11 +46,18 @@ impl ShellExecutor for MyShellExecutor {
         let workdir = cwd.unwrap_or_else(|| ".".to_string());
         let workdir_path = Path::new(&workdir);
 
+        let has_bash = Path::new("/bin/bash").exists();
+
         if is_background(&command) {
             tracing::info!("Running command in background");
-            // Don't capture stdout or stderr, and don't wait for child process.
-            let mut cmd = Command::new("sh");
+            let mut cmd = Command::new(if has_bash { "/bin/bash" } else { "sh" });
+            if has_bash {
+                cmd.arg("--login");
+            }
+
             apply_env_settings(&mut cmd, env_clear, env_remove, envs);
+
+            // Don't capture stdout or stderr, and don't wait for child process.
             cmd.arg("-c")
                 .arg(command)
                 .current_dir(workdir_path)
@@ -107,9 +114,13 @@ impl ShellExecutor for MyShellExecutor {
         } else {
             tracing::info!("no shebang detected; running as command");
 
-            let mut cmd = Command::new("sh");
+            let mut cmd = Command::new(if has_bash { "/bin/bash" } else { "sh" });
+
             apply_env_settings(&mut cmd, env_clear, env_remove, envs);
 
+            if has_bash {
+                cmd.arg("--login");
+            }
             cmd.arg("-c")
                 .arg(&command)
                 .current_dir(workdir_path)