diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index c5be992d9..f7195f9a1 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -295,7 +295,6 @@ relive:
 
 relivelibdir=$(shell pwd)/$(DEPSDIR)
 relivedir=$(shell pwd)/_build/relive
-iexpath=$(shell which iex)
 CONFIG_DIR = ${relivedir}/conf
 SPOOL_DIR = ${relivedir}/database
 LOGS_DIR = ${relivedir}/logs
@@ -305,9 +304,9 @@ ejabberdctl.relive:
 		-e "s*{{config_dir}}*${CONFIG_DIR}*g" \
 		-e "s*{{logs_dir}}*${LOGS_DIR}*g" \
 		-e "s*{{spool_dir}}*${SPOOL_DIR}*g" \
-		-e "s*{{bindir}}/iex*$(iexpath)*g" \
 		-e "s*{{bindir}}*@bindir@*g" \
 		-e "s*{{libdir}}*${relivelibdir}${ELIXIR_LIBDIR}*g" \
+		-e "s*{{iexpath}}*@IEX@*g" \
 		-e "s*{{erl}}*@ERL@*g" \
 		-e "s*{{epmd}}*@EPMD@*g" ejabberdctl.template \
 		> ejabberdctl.relive
@@ -331,6 +330,7 @@ ejabberdctl.example: vars.config
 		-e "s*{{spool_dir}}*${SPOOLDIR}*g" \
 		-e "s*{{bindir}}*@bindir@*g" \
 		-e "s*{{libdir}}*@libdir@${ELIXIR_LIBDIR}*g" \
+		-e "s*{{iexpath}}*@IEX@*g" \
 		-e "s*{{erl}}*@ERL@*g" \
 		-e "s*{{epmd}}*@EPMD@*g" ejabberdctl.template \
 		> ejabberdctl.example
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 434f0e9f3..5549b5ffb 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ fi
 AC_PATH_TOOL(ERL, erl, , [${extra_erl_path}$PATH])
 AC_PATH_TOOL(ERLC, erlc, , [${extra_erl_path}$PATH])
 AC_PATH_TOOL(EPMD, epmd, , [${extra_erl_path}$PATH])
+AC_PATH_TOOL(IEX, iex, , [${extra_erl_path}$PATH])
 
 AC_ERLANG_NEED_ERL
 AC_ERLANG_NEED_ERLC
diff --git a/ejabberdctl.template b/ejabberdctl.template
index 0e221f473..8b3d90fc5 100755
--- a/ejabberdctl.template
+++ b/ejabberdctl.template
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "$SCRIPT")" && pwd -P)"
 # shellcheck disable=SC2034
 ERTS_VSN="{{erts_vsn}}"
 ERL="{{erl}}"
-IEX="{{bindir}}/iex"
 EPMD="{{epmd}}"
+IEX="{{iexpath}}"
 INSTALLUSER="{{installuser}}"
 
 # check the proper system user is used
diff --git a/mix.exs b/mix.exs
index bef8d02ba..d11a6854a 100644
--- a/mix.exs
+++ b/mix.exs
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ defmodule Ejabberd.MixProject do
       logs_dir: config(:logs_dir),
       spool_dir: config(:spool_dir),
       vsn: config(:vsn),
-      iex: config(:iex),
+      iexpath: config(:iexpath),
       erl: config(:erl),
       epmd: config(:epmd),
       bindir: Path.join([config(:release_dir), "releases", version()]),
diff --git a/vars.config.in b/vars.config.in
index 1d5decc60..d0b4a392a 100644
--- a/vars.config.in
+++ b/vars.config.in
@@ -53,9 +53,9 @@
 {sysconfdir, "{{release_dir}}/etc"}.
 {erts_dir, "{{release_dir}}/erts-${ERTS_VSN#erts-}"}.
 {installuser, "@INSTALLUSER@"}.
-{iex, "{{release_dir}}/releases/{{vsn}}/iex"}.
 {erl, "{{erts_dir}}/bin/erl"}.
 {epmd, "{{erts_dir}}/bin/epmd"}.
+{iexpath, "{{release_dir}}/releases/{{vsn}}/iex"}.
 {localstatedir, "{{release_dir}}/var"}.
 {libdir, "{{release_dir}}/lib"}.
 {docdir, "{{release_dir}}/doc"}.