diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/filenames.py b/src/calibre/utils/filenames.py
index 913c0836e1..f8ec7f6da2 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/filenames.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/filenames.py
@@ -88,10 +88,9 @@ def shorten_components_to(length, components, more_to_take=0, last_has_extension
 def find_executable_in_path(name, path=None):
     if path is None:
         path = os.environ.get('PATH', '')
-    sep = ';' if iswindows else ':'
     if iswindows and not name.endswith('.exe'):
         name += '.exe'
-    path = path.split(sep)
+    path = path.split(os.pathsep)
     for x in path:
         q = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(x, name))
         if os.access(q, os.X_OK):