diff --git a/src/plugins/debugger/gdb/gdbengine.cpp b/src/plugins/debugger/gdb/gdbengine.cpp
index 98444776787..e401ca62599 100644
--- a/src/plugins/debugger/gdb/gdbengine.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/debugger/gdb/gdbengine.cpp
@@ -4194,6 +4194,9 @@ void GdbEngine::setupInferior()
         // Do that first, otherwise no symbols are loaded.
         QFileInfo fi = executable.toFileInfo();
         QString path = fi.absoluteFilePath();
+        // This is *not* equivalent to -file-exec-and-symbols. If the file is not executable
+        // (contains only debugging symbols), this should still work.
+        runCommand({"-file-exec-file \"" + path + '"'});
         runCommand({"-file-symbol-file \"" + path + '"',
                     CB(handleFileExecAndSymbols)});