diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/ardour_ui.cc b/gtk2_ardour/ardour_ui.cc
index e74b8efe98..a56dbac216 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/ardour_ui.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/ardour_ui.cc
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ typedef uint64_t microseconds_t;
 #include "video_server_dialog.h"
 #include "add_video_dialog.h"
 #include "transcode_video_dialog.h"
-#include "system_exec.h"
+#include "pbd/system_exec.h"
 
 #include "i18n.h"
 
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/transcode_ffmpeg.h b/gtk2_ardour/transcode_ffmpeg.h
index 61267ac853..e25a68da91 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/transcode_ffmpeg.h
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/transcode_ffmpeg.h
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
 #include <string>
 #include "ardour/types.h"
-#include "system_exec.h"
+#include "pbd/system_exec.h"
 
 
 /** @class TranscodeFfmpeg
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/video_monitor.h b/gtk2_ardour/video_monitor.h
index 59264fa012..80273cf5e3 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/video_monitor.h
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/video_monitor.h
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 #include "ardour/types.h"
 #include "ardour/session.h"
 #include "ardour/session_handle.h"
-#include "system_exec.h"
+#include "pbd/system_exec.h"
 
 namespace ARDOUR {
 	class Session;
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/wscript b/gtk2_ardour/wscript
index 9b6480278b..b2d9999276 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/wscript
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/wscript
@@ -246,7 +246,6 @@ gtk2_ardour_sources = [
         'add_video_dialog.cc',
         'editor_videotimeline.cc',
         'video_timeline.cc',
-        'system_exec.cc',
         'video_monitor.cc',
         'transcode_ffmpeg.cc',
         'transcode_video_dialog.cc',
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/system_exec.h b/libs/pbd/pbd/system_exec.h
similarity index 100%
rename from gtk2_ardour/system_exec.h
rename to libs/pbd/pbd/system_exec.h
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/system_exec.cc b/libs/pbd/system_exec.cc
similarity index 99%
rename from gtk2_ardour/system_exec.cc
rename to libs/pbd/system_exec.cc
index 59f3647e51..d26eedad6d 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/system_exec.cc
+++ b/libs/pbd/system_exec.cc
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
 #endif
 
 
-#include "system_exec.h"
+#include "pbd/system_exec.h"
 
 using namespace std;
 void * interposer_thread (void *arg);
diff --git a/libs/pbd/wscript b/libs/pbd/wscript
index ffbe0e0d19..65b6a43a2e 100644
--- a/libs/pbd/wscript
+++ b/libs/pbd/wscript
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ libpbd_sources = [
     'stateful.cc',
     'strreplace.cc',
     'strsplit.cc',
+    'system_exec.cc',
     'textreceiver.cc',
     'transmitter.cc',
     'undo.cc',