diff --git a/cli/lib/exec/spawn.js b/cli/lib/exec/spawn.js
index 85a912b2f59f..b818407e683a 100644
--- a/cli/lib/exec/spawn.js
+++ b/cli/lib/exec/spawn.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 const _ = require('lodash')
+const os = require('os')
 const cp = require('child_process')
 const path = require('path')
 const Promise = require('bluebird')
@@ -12,12 +13,16 @@ const { throwFormErrorText, errors } = require('../errors')
 const isXlibOrLibudevRe = /^(?:Xlib|libudev)/
 const isHighSierraWarningRe = /\*\*\* WARNING/
 
+function isPlatform (platform) {
+  return os.platform() === platform
+}
+
 function needsStderrPiped (needsXvfb) {
-  return util.isPlatform('darwin') || (needsXvfb && util.isPlatform('linux'))
+  return isPlatform('darwin') || (needsXvfb && isPlatform('linux'))
 }
 
 function needsEverythingPipedDirectly () {
-  return util.isPlatform('win32')
+  return isPlatform('win32')
 }
 
 function getStdio (needsXvfb) {
@@ -68,6 +73,7 @@ module.exports = {
         }
 
         const overrides = util.getEnvOverrides()
+        const node11WindowsFix = isPlatform('win32')
 
         debug('spawning Cypress with executable: %s', executable)
         debug('spawn forcing env overrides %o', overrides)
@@ -81,6 +87,9 @@ module.exports = {
         // also figure out whether we should force stdout and stderr into thinking
         // it is a tty as opposed to a pipe.
         options.env = _.extend({}, options.env, overrides)
+        if (node11WindowsFix) {
+          options = _.extend({}, options, { windowsHide: false })
+        }
 
         const child = cp.spawn(executable, args, options)
 
diff --git a/cli/lib/util.js b/cli/lib/util.js
index 524ef7737cc0..634bb4a85449 100644
--- a/cli/lib/util.js
+++ b/cli/lib/util.js
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ const isInstalledGlobally = require('is-installed-globally')
 const pkg = require(path.join(__dirname, '..', 'package.json'))
 const logger = require('./logger')
 const debug = require('debug')('cypress:cli')
-const compareVersions = require('compare-versions')
 
 const getosAsync = Promise.promisify(getos)
 
@@ -68,7 +67,6 @@ const util = {
     .mapValues((value) => { // stringify to 1 or 0
       return value ? '1' : '0'
     })
-    .extend(util.getNode11WindowsFix()) // the value has to be falsy, '0' as a string not good enoughs
     .value()
   },
 
@@ -80,14 +78,6 @@ const util = {
     }
   },
 
-  getNode11WindowsFix () {
-    if (compareVersions(util.getNodeVersion(), 'v11') >= 0 && util.isPlatform('win32')) {
-      return {
-        windowsHide: false,
-      }
-    }
-  },
-
   getEnvColors () {
     const sc = util.supportsColor()
 
@@ -98,14 +88,6 @@ const util = {
     }
   },
 
-  getNodeVersion () {
-    return process.version
-  },
-
-  isPlatform (platform) {
-    return os.platform() === platform
-  },
-
   isTty (fd) {
     return tty.isatty(fd)
   },
diff --git a/cli/package.json b/cli/package.json
index dbbf19b578dd..0fd43bccbe0a 100644
--- a/cli/package.json
+++ b/cli/package.json
@@ -56,7 +56,6 @@
     "check-more-types": "2.24.0",
     "commander": "2.11.0",
     "common-tags": "1.4.0",
-    "compare-versions": "3.4.0",
     "debug": "3.1.0",
     "execa": "0.10.0",
     "executable": "4.1.1",
diff --git a/cli/test/lib/exec/spawn_spec.js b/cli/test/lib/exec/spawn_spec.js
index a74493ad8f6c..c0cb8d6e1dc2 100644
--- a/cli/test/lib/exec/spawn_spec.js
+++ b/cli/test/lib/exec/spawn_spec.js
@@ -122,8 +122,8 @@ describe('lib/exec/spawn', function () {
 
     it('rejects with error from spawn', function () {
       const msg = 'the error message'
-      this.spawnedProcess.on.withArgs('error').yieldsAsync(new Error(msg))
 
+      this.spawnedProcess.on.withArgs('error').yieldsAsync(new Error(msg))
 
       return spawn.start('--foo')
       .then(() => {
@@ -181,6 +181,26 @@ describe('lib/exec/spawn', function () {
       })
     })
 
+    it('sets windowsHide:false property in windows', function () {
+      this.spawnedProcess.on.withArgs('close').yieldsAsync(0)
+
+      os.platform.returns('win32')
+
+      return spawn.start([], { env: {} })
+      .then(() => {
+        expect(cp.spawn.firstCall.args[2].windowsHide).to.be.false
+      })
+    })
+
+    it('does not set windowsHide property when in darwin', function () {
+      this.spawnedProcess.on.withArgs('close').yieldsAsync(0)
+
+      return spawn.start([], { env: {} })
+      .then(() => {
+        expect(cp.spawn.firstCall.args[2].windowsHide).to.be.undefined
+      })
+    })
+
     it('does not force colors and streams when not supported', function () {
       this.spawnedProcess.on.withArgs('close').yieldsAsync(0)
 
@@ -326,7 +346,9 @@ describe('lib/exec/spawn', function () {
         const fn = () => {
           called = true
           const err = new Error()
+
           err.code = 'EPIPE'
+
           return process.stdin.emit('error', err)
         }
 
@@ -342,7 +364,9 @@ describe('lib/exec/spawn', function () {
       .then(() => {
         const fn = () => {
           const err = new Error('wattttt')
+
           err.code = 'FAILWHALE'
+
           return process.stdin.emit('error', err)
         }
 
diff --git a/cli/test/lib/util_spec.js b/cli/test/lib/util_spec.js
index dfc71681b9a6..1687d5c9c212 100644
--- a/cli/test/lib/util_spec.js
+++ b/cli/test/lib/util_spec.js
@@ -191,36 +191,6 @@ describe('util', () => {
         DEBUG_COLORS: '0',
       })
     })
-
-    context('.windowsHide', () => {
-      it('is false on windows with node 11', () => {
-        os.platform.returns('win32')
-        sinon.stub(process, 'version').value('v11.0.0')
-        expect(util.getEnvOverrides().windowsHide).to.be.false
-      })
-
-      it('is false on windows with node > 11', () => {
-        os.platform.returns('win32')
-        sinon.stub(process, 'version').value('v12.0.0')
-        expect(util.getEnvOverrides().windowsHide).to.be.false
-      })
-
-      it('is undefined on windows with node < 11', () => {
-        os.platform.returns('win32')
-        sinon.stub(process, 'version').value('v8.0.0')
-        expect(util.getEnvOverrides().windowsHide).to.be.undefined
-
-        os.platform.returns('win32')
-        sinon.stub(process, 'version').value('v10.0.0')
-        expect(util.getEnvOverrides().windowsHide).to.be.undefined
-      })
-
-      it('is undefined on non-windows with node 11', () => {
-        os.platform.returns('darwin')
-        sinon.stub(process, 'version').value('v11.0.0')
-        expect(util.getEnvOverrides().windowsHide).to.be.undefined
-      })
-    })
   })
 
   context('.getForceTty', () => {