diff --git a/src/plugins/qmakeprojectmanager/qmakeproject.cpp b/src/plugins/qmakeprojectmanager/qmakeproject.cpp
index d635c8791eb..2b1529f6339 100644
--- a/src/plugins/qmakeprojectmanager/qmakeproject.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/qmakeprojectmanager/qmakeproject.cpp
@@ -1347,8 +1347,11 @@ QString QmakeProject::executableFor(const QmakeProFile *file)
             && file->variableValue(Variable::Config).contains("app_bundle")) {
         target = ti.target + ".app/Contents/MacOS/" + ti.target;
     } else {
-        QString extension = file->singleVariableValue(Variable::TargetExt);
-        target = ti.target + extension;
+        const QString extension = file->singleVariableValue(Variable::TargetExt);
+        if (extension.isEmpty())
+            target = HostOsInfo::withExecutableSuffix(ti.target);
+        else
+            target = ti.target + extension;
     }
     return QDir(destDirFor(ti).toString()).absoluteFilePath(target);
 }