diff --git a/plugins/inputs/exec/exec.go b/plugins/inputs/exec/exec.go
index 66dc7eea0..ca87944c9 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/exec/exec.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/exec/exec.go
@@ -4,11 +4,8 @@ package exec
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	_ "embed"
-	"errors"
 	"fmt"
-	"io"
 	"path/filepath"
-	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
@@ -48,18 +45,31 @@ type Exec struct {
 type exitCodeHandlerFunc func([]telegraf.Metric, error, []byte) []telegraf.Metric
 
 type runner interface {
-	run(string, []string, time.Duration) ([]byte, []byte, error)
+	run(string) ([]byte, []byte, error)
 }
 
 type commandRunner struct {
-	debug bool
+	environment []string
+	timeout     time.Duration
+	debug       bool
 }
 
 func (*Exec) SampleConfig() string {
 	return sampleConfig
 }
 
-func (*Exec) Init() error {
+func (e *Exec) Init() error {
+	// Legacy single command support
+	if e.Command != "" {
+		e.Commands = append(e.Commands, e.Command)
+	}
+
+	e.runner = &commandRunner{
+		environment: e.Environment,
+		timeout:     time.Duration(e.Timeout),
+		debug:       e.Log.Level().Includes(telegraf.Debug),
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -68,60 +78,93 @@ func (e *Exec) SetParser(parser telegraf.Parser) {
 	unwrapped, ok := parser.(*models.RunningParser)
 	if ok {
 		if _, ok := unwrapped.Parser.(*nagios.Parser); ok {
-			e.exitCodeHandler = nagiosHandler
+			e.exitCodeHandler = func(metrics []telegraf.Metric, err error, msg []byte) []telegraf.Metric {
+				return nagios.AddState(err, msg, metrics)
+			}
 			e.parseDespiteError = true
 		}
 	}
 }
 
 func (e *Exec) Gather(acc telegraf.Accumulator) error {
+	commands := e.updateRunners()
+
 	var wg sync.WaitGroup
-	// Legacy single command support
-	if e.Command != "" {
-		e.Commands = append(e.Commands, e.Command)
-		e.Command = ""
-	}
+	for _, cmd := range commands {
+		wg.Add(1)
 
-	commands := make([]string, 0, len(e.Commands))
-	for _, pattern := range e.Commands {
-		cmdAndArgs := strings.SplitN(pattern, " ", 2)
-		if len(cmdAndArgs) == 0 {
-			continue
-		}
-
-		matches, err := filepath.Glob(cmdAndArgs[0])
-		if err != nil {
-			acc.AddError(err)
-			continue
-		}
-
-		if len(matches) == 0 {
-			// There were no matches with the glob pattern, so let's assume
-			// that the command is in PATH and just run it as it is
-			commands = append(commands, pattern)
-		} else {
-			// There were matches, so we'll append each match together with
-			// the arguments to the commands slice
-			for _, match := range matches {
-				if len(cmdAndArgs) == 1 {
-					commands = append(commands, match)
-				} else {
-					commands = append(commands,
-						strings.Join([]string{match, cmdAndArgs[1]}, " "))
-				}
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	wg.Add(len(commands))
-	for _, command := range commands {
-		go e.processCommand(command, acc, &wg)
+		go func(c string) {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			acc.AddError(e.processCommand(acc, c))
+		}(cmd)
 	}
 	wg.Wait()
 	return nil
 }
 
-func truncate(buf bytes.Buffer) bytes.Buffer {
+func (e *Exec) updateRunners() []string {
+	commands := make([]string, 0, len(e.Commands))
+	for _, pattern := range e.Commands {
+		if pattern == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		// Try to expand globbing expressions
+		cmd, args, found := strings.Cut(pattern, " ")
+		matches, err := filepath.Glob(cmd)
+		if err != nil {
+			e.Log.Errorf("Matching command %q failed: %v", cmd, err)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		if len(matches) == 0 {
+			// There were no matches with the glob pattern, so let's assume
+			// the command is in PATH and just run it as it is
+			commands = append(commands, pattern)
+		} else {
+			// There were matches, so we'll append each match together with
+			// the arguments to the commands slice
+			for _, match := range matches {
+				if found {
+					match += " " + args
+				}
+				commands = append(commands, match)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return commands
+}
+
+func (e *Exec) processCommand(acc telegraf.Accumulator, cmd string) error {
+	out, errBuf, runErr := e.runner.run(cmd)
+	if !e.IgnoreError && !e.parseDespiteError && runErr != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("exec: %w for command %q: %s", runErr, cmd, string(errBuf))
+	}
+
+	metrics, err := e.parser.Parse(out)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if len(metrics) == 0 {
+		once.Do(func() {
+			e.Log.Debug(internal.NoMetricsCreatedMsg)
+		})
+	}
+
+	if e.exitCodeHandler != nil {
+		metrics = e.exitCodeHandler(metrics, runErr, errBuf)
+	}
+
+	for _, m := range metrics {
+		acc.AddMetric(m)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func truncate(buf *bytes.Buffer) {
 	// Limit the number of bytes.
 	didTruncate := false
 	if buf.Len() > maxStderrBytes {
@@ -138,72 +181,12 @@ func truncate(buf bytes.Buffer) bytes.Buffer {
 	if didTruncate {
 		buf.WriteString("...")
 	}
-	return buf
-}
-
-// removeWindowsCarriageReturns removes all carriage returns from the input if the
-// OS is Windows. It does not return any errors.
-func removeWindowsCarriageReturns(b bytes.Buffer) bytes.Buffer {
-	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
-		var buf bytes.Buffer
-		for {
-			byt, err := b.ReadBytes(0x0D)
-			byt = bytes.TrimRight(byt, "\x0d")
-			if len(byt) > 0 {
-				buf.Write(byt)
-			}
-			if errors.Is(err, io.EOF) {
-				return buf
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	return b
-}
-
-func (e *Exec) processCommand(command string, acc telegraf.Accumulator, wg *sync.WaitGroup) {
-	defer wg.Done()
-
-	out, errBuf, runErr := e.runner.run(command, e.Environment, time.Duration(e.Timeout))
-	if !e.IgnoreError && !e.parseDespiteError && runErr != nil {
-		err := fmt.Errorf("exec: %w for command %q: %s", runErr, command, string(errBuf))
-		acc.AddError(err)
-		return
-	}
-
-	metrics, err := e.parser.Parse(out)
-	if err != nil {
-		acc.AddError(err)
-		return
-	}
-
-	if len(metrics) == 0 {
-		once.Do(func() {
-			e.Log.Debug(internal.NoMetricsCreatedMsg)
-		})
-	}
-
-	if e.exitCodeHandler != nil {
-		metrics = e.exitCodeHandler(metrics, runErr, errBuf)
-	}
-
-	for _, m := range metrics {
-		acc.AddMetric(m)
-	}
-}
-
-func nagiosHandler(metrics []telegraf.Metric, err error, msg []byte) []telegraf.Metric {
-	return nagios.AddState(err, msg, metrics)
-}
-
-func newExec() *Exec {
-	return &Exec{
-		runner:  commandRunner{},
-		Timeout: config.Duration(time.Second * 5),
-	}
 }
 
 func init() {
 	inputs.Add("exec", func() telegraf.Input {
-		return newExec()
+		return &Exec{
+			Timeout: config.Duration(5 * time.Second),
+		}
 	})
 }
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/exec/exec_test.go b/plugins/inputs/exec/exec_test.go
index 8d99079ec..ce631d406 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/exec/exec_test.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/exec/exec_test.go
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ package exec
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"errors"
-	"runtime"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -44,243 +44,293 @@ const malformedJSON = `
     "status": "green",
 `
 
-type carriageReturnTest struct {
-	input  []byte
-	output []byte
-}
-
-var crTests = []carriageReturnTest{
-	{[]byte{0x4c, 0x69, 0x6e, 0x65, 0x20, 0x31, 0x0d, 0x0a, 0x4c, 0x69,
-		0x6e, 0x65, 0x20, 0x32, 0x0d, 0x0a, 0x4c, 0x69, 0x6e, 0x65,
-		0x20, 0x33},
-		[]byte{0x4c, 0x69, 0x6e, 0x65, 0x20, 0x31, 0x0a, 0x4c, 0x69, 0x6e,
-			0x65, 0x20, 0x32, 0x0a, 0x4c, 0x69, 0x6e, 0x65, 0x20, 0x33}},
-	{[]byte{0x4c, 0x69, 0x6e, 0x65, 0x20, 0x31, 0x0a, 0x4c, 0x69, 0x6e,
-		0x65, 0x20, 0x32, 0x0a, 0x4c, 0x69, 0x6e, 0x65, 0x20, 0x33},
-		[]byte{0x4c, 0x69, 0x6e, 0x65, 0x20, 0x31, 0x0a, 0x4c, 0x69, 0x6e,
-			0x65, 0x20, 0x32, 0x0a, 0x4c, 0x69, 0x6e, 0x65, 0x20, 0x33}},
-	{[]byte{0x54, 0x68, 0x69, 0x73, 0x20, 0x69, 0x73, 0x20, 0x61, 0x6c,
-		0x6c, 0x20, 0x6f, 0x6e, 0x65, 0x20, 0x62, 0x69, 0x67, 0x20,
-		0x6c, 0x69, 0x6e, 0x65},
-		[]byte{0x54, 0x68, 0x69, 0x73, 0x20, 0x69, 0x73, 0x20, 0x61, 0x6c,
-			0x6c, 0x20, 0x6f, 0x6e, 0x65, 0x20, 0x62, 0x69, 0x67, 0x20,
-			0x6c, 0x69, 0x6e, 0x65}},
-}
-
 type runnerMock struct {
 	out    []byte
 	errout []byte
 	err    error
 }
 
-func newRunnerMock(out, errout []byte, err error) runner {
-	return &runnerMock{
-		out:    out,
-		errout: errout,
-		err:    err,
-	}
-}
-
-func (r runnerMock) run(string, []string, time.Duration) (out, errout []byte, err error) {
+func (r runnerMock) run(string) (out, errout []byte, err error) {
 	return r.out, r.errout, r.err
 }
 
 func TestExec(t *testing.T) {
+	// Setup parser
 	parser := &json.Parser{MetricName: "exec"}
 	require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
-	e := &Exec{
-		Log:      testutil.Logger{},
-		runner:   newRunnerMock([]byte(validJSON), nil, nil),
+
+	// Setup plugin
+	plugin := &Exec{
 		Commands: []string{"testcommand arg1"},
-		parser:   parser,
+		Log:      testutil.Logger{},
 	}
+	plugin.SetParser(parser)
+	require.NoError(t, plugin.Init())
+	plugin.runner = &runnerMock{out: []byte(validJSON)}
 
+	// Gather the metrics and check the result
 	var acc testutil.Accumulator
-	err := acc.GatherError(e.Gather)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.Equal(t, 8, acc.NFields(), "non-numeric measurements should be ignored")
+	require.NoError(t, acc.GatherError(plugin.Gather))
 
-	fields := map[string]interface{}{
-		"num_processes": float64(82),
-		"cpu_used":      float64(8234),
-		"cpu_free":      float64(32),
-		"percent":       float64(0.81),
-		"users_0":       float64(0),
-		"users_1":       float64(1),
-		"users_2":       float64(2),
-		"users_3":       float64(3),
+	expected := []telegraf.Metric{
+		metric.New(
+			"exec",
+			map[string]string{},
+			map[string]interface{}{
+				"num_processes": float64(82),
+				"cpu_used":      float64(8234),
+				"cpu_free":      float64(32),
+				"percent":       float64(0.81),
+				"users_0":       float64(0),
+				"users_1":       float64(1),
+				"users_2":       float64(2),
+				"users_3":       float64(3),
+			},
+			time.Unix(0, 0),
+		),
 	}
-	acc.AssertContainsFields(t, "exec", fields)
+	testutil.RequireMetricsEqual(t, expected, acc.GetTelegrafMetrics(), testutil.IgnoreTime())
 }
 
 func TestExecMalformed(t *testing.T) {
+	// Setup parser
 	parser := &json.Parser{MetricName: "exec"}
 	require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
-	e := &Exec{
-		Log:      testutil.Logger{},
-		runner:   newRunnerMock([]byte(malformedJSON), nil, nil),
-		Commands: []string{"badcommand arg1"},
-		parser:   parser,
-	}
 
+	// Setup plugin
+	plugin := &Exec{
+		Commands: []string{"badcommand arg1"},
+		Log:      testutil.Logger{},
+	}
+	plugin.SetParser(parser)
+	require.NoError(t, plugin.Init())
+	plugin.runner = &runnerMock{out: []byte(malformedJSON)}
+
+	// Gather the metrics and check the result
 	var acc testutil.Accumulator
-	require.Error(t, acc.GatherError(e.Gather))
-	require.Equal(t, 0, acc.NFields(), "No new points should have been added")
+	require.ErrorContains(t, acc.GatherError(plugin.Gather), "unexpected end of JSON input")
+	require.Empty(t, acc.GetTelegrafMetrics())
 }
 
 func TestCommandError(t *testing.T) {
+	// Setup parser
 	parser := &json.Parser{MetricName: "exec"}
 	require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
-	e := &Exec{
-		Log:      testutil.Logger{},
-		runner:   newRunnerMock(nil, nil, errors.New("exit status code 1")),
-		Commands: []string{"badcommand"},
-		parser:   parser,
-	}
 
+	// Setup plugin
+	plugin := &Exec{
+		Commands: []string{"badcommand"},
+		Log:      testutil.Logger{},
+	}
+	plugin.SetParser(parser)
+	require.NoError(t, plugin.Init())
+	plugin.runner = &runnerMock{err: errors.New("exit status code 1")}
+
+	// Gather the metrics and check the result
 	var acc testutil.Accumulator
-	require.Error(t, acc.GatherError(e.Gather))
+	require.ErrorContains(t, acc.GatherError(plugin.Gather), "exit status code 1 for command")
 	require.Equal(t, 0, acc.NFields(), "No new points should have been added")
 }
 
 func TestCommandIgnoreError(t *testing.T) {
+	// Setup parser
 	parser := &json.Parser{MetricName: "exec"}
 	require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
-	e := &Exec{
-		Log:         testutil.Logger{},
-		runner:      newRunnerMock([]byte(validJSON), []byte("error"), errors.New("exit status code 1")),
+
+	// Setup plugin
+	plugin := &Exec{
 		Commands:    []string{"badcommand"},
 		IgnoreError: true,
-		parser:      parser,
+		Log:         testutil.Logger{},
+	}
+	plugin.SetParser(parser)
+	require.NoError(t, plugin.Init())
+	plugin.runner = &runnerMock{
+		out:    []byte(validJSON),
+		errout: []byte("error"),
+		err:    errors.New("exit status code 1"),
 	}
 
+	// Gather the metrics and check the result
 	var acc testutil.Accumulator
-	require.NoError(t, acc.GatherError(e.Gather))
-	require.Equal(t, 8, acc.NFields(), "non-numeric measurements should be ignored")
+	require.NoError(t, acc.GatherError(plugin.Gather))
 
-	fields := map[string]interface{}{
-		"num_processes": float64(82),
-		"cpu_used":      float64(8234),
-		"cpu_free":      float64(32),
-		"percent":       float64(0.81),
-		"users_0":       float64(0),
-		"users_1":       float64(1),
-		"users_2":       float64(2),
-		"users_3":       float64(3),
+	expected := []telegraf.Metric{
+		metric.New(
+			"exec",
+			map[string]string{},
+			map[string]interface{}{
+				"num_processes": float64(82),
+				"cpu_used":      float64(8234),
+				"cpu_free":      float64(32),
+				"percent":       float64(0.81),
+				"users_0":       float64(0),
+				"users_1":       float64(1),
+				"users_2":       float64(2),
+				"users_3":       float64(3),
+			},
+			time.Unix(0, 0),
+		),
 	}
-	acc.AssertContainsFields(t, "exec", fields)
+	testutil.RequireMetricsEqual(t, expected, acc.GetTelegrafMetrics(), testutil.IgnoreTime())
 }
 
 func TestExecCommandWithGlob(t *testing.T) {
+	// Setup parser
 	parser := value.Parser{
 		MetricName: "metric",
 		DataType:   "string",
 	}
 	require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
 
-	e := newExec()
-	e.Commands = []string{"/bin/ech* metric_value"}
-	e.SetParser(&parser)
-
-	var acc testutil.Accumulator
-	require.NoError(t, acc.GatherError(e.Gather))
-
-	fields := map[string]interface{}{
-		"value": "metric_value",
+	// Setup plugin
+	plugin := &Exec{
+		Commands: []string{"/bin/ech* metric_value"},
+		Timeout:  config.Duration(5 * time.Second),
+		Log:      testutil.Logger{},
 	}
-	acc.AssertContainsFields(t, "metric", fields)
+	plugin.SetParser(&parser)
+	require.NoError(t, plugin.Init())
+
+	// Gather the metrics and check the result
+	var acc testutil.Accumulator
+	require.NoError(t, acc.GatherError(plugin.Gather))
+
+	expected := []telegraf.Metric{
+		metric.New(
+			"metric",
+			map[string]string{},
+			map[string]interface{}{
+				"value": "metric_value",
+			},
+			time.Unix(0, 0),
+		),
+	}
+	testutil.RequireMetricsEqual(t, expected, acc.GetTelegrafMetrics(), testutil.IgnoreTime())
 }
 
 func TestExecCommandWithoutGlob(t *testing.T) {
+	// Setup parser
 	parser := value.Parser{
 		MetricName: "metric",
 		DataType:   "string",
 	}
 	require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
 
-	e := newExec()
-	e.Commands = []string{"/bin/echo metric_value"}
-	e.SetParser(&parser)
-
-	var acc testutil.Accumulator
-	require.NoError(t, acc.GatherError(e.Gather))
-
-	fields := map[string]interface{}{
-		"value": "metric_value",
+	// Setup plugin
+	plugin := &Exec{
+		Commands: []string{"/bin/echo metric_value"},
+		Timeout:  config.Duration(5 * time.Second),
+		Log:      testutil.Logger{},
 	}
-	acc.AssertContainsFields(t, "metric", fields)
+	plugin.SetParser(&parser)
+	require.NoError(t, plugin.Init())
+
+	// Gather the metrics and check the result
+	var acc testutil.Accumulator
+	require.NoError(t, acc.GatherError(plugin.Gather))
+
+	expected := []telegraf.Metric{
+		metric.New(
+			"metric",
+			map[string]string{},
+			map[string]interface{}{
+				"value": "metric_value",
+			},
+			time.Unix(0, 0),
+		),
+	}
+	testutil.RequireMetricsEqual(t, expected, acc.GetTelegrafMetrics(), testutil.IgnoreTime())
 }
 
 func TestExecCommandWithoutGlobAndPath(t *testing.T) {
+	// Setup parser
 	parser := value.Parser{
 		MetricName: "metric",
 		DataType:   "string",
 	}
 	require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
-	e := newExec()
-	e.Commands = []string{"echo metric_value"}
-	e.SetParser(&parser)
 
-	var acc testutil.Accumulator
-	require.NoError(t, acc.GatherError(e.Gather))
-
-	fields := map[string]interface{}{
-		"value": "metric_value",
+	// Setup plugin
+	plugin := &Exec{
+		Commands: []string{"echo metric_value"},
+		Timeout:  config.Duration(5 * time.Second),
+		Log:      testutil.Logger{},
 	}
-	acc.AssertContainsFields(t, "metric", fields)
+	plugin.SetParser(&parser)
+	require.NoError(t, plugin.Init())
+
+	// Gather the metrics and check the result
+	var acc testutil.Accumulator
+	require.NoError(t, acc.GatherError(plugin.Gather))
+
+	expected := []telegraf.Metric{
+		metric.New(
+			"metric",
+			map[string]string{},
+			map[string]interface{}{
+				"value": "metric_value",
+			},
+			time.Unix(0, 0),
+		),
+	}
+	testutil.RequireMetricsEqual(t, expected, acc.GetTelegrafMetrics(), testutil.IgnoreTime())
 }
 
 func TestExecCommandWithEnv(t *testing.T) {
+	// Setup parser
 	parser := value.Parser{
 		MetricName: "metric",
 		DataType:   "string",
 	}
 	require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
-	e := newExec()
-	e.Commands = []string{"/bin/sh -c 'echo ${METRIC_NAME}'"}
-	e.Environment = []string{"METRIC_NAME=metric_value"}
-	e.SetParser(&parser)
 
-	var acc testutil.Accumulator
-	require.NoError(t, acc.GatherError(e.Gather))
-
-	fields := map[string]interface{}{
-		"value": "metric_value",
+	// Setup plugin
+	plugin := &Exec{
+		Commands:    []string{"/bin/sh -c 'echo ${METRIC_NAME}'"},
+		Environment: []string{"METRIC_NAME=metric_value"},
+		Timeout:     config.Duration(5 * time.Second),
+		Log:         testutil.Logger{},
 	}
-	acc.AssertContainsFields(t, "metric", fields)
+	plugin.SetParser(&parser)
+	require.NoError(t, plugin.Init())
+
+	// Gather the metrics and check the result
+	var acc testutil.Accumulator
+	require.NoError(t, acc.GatherError(plugin.Gather))
+
+	expected := []telegraf.Metric{
+		metric.New(
+			"metric",
+			map[string]string{},
+			map[string]interface{}{
+				"value": "metric_value",
+			},
+			time.Unix(0, 0),
+		),
+	}
+	testutil.RequireMetricsEqual(t, expected, acc.GetTelegrafMetrics(), testutil.IgnoreTime())
 }
 
 func TestTruncate(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
-		name string
-		bufF func() *bytes.Buffer
-		expF func() *bytes.Buffer
+		name     string
+		bufF     func() *bytes.Buffer
+		expected string
 	}{
 		{
 			name: "should not truncate",
 			bufF: func() *bytes.Buffer {
-				var b bytes.Buffer
-				b.WriteString("hello world")
-				return &b
-			},
-			expF: func() *bytes.Buffer {
-				var b bytes.Buffer
-				b.WriteString("hello world")
-				return &b
+				return bytes.NewBufferString("hello world")
 			},
+			expected: "hello world",
 		},
 		{
 			name: "should truncate up to the new line",
 			bufF: func() *bytes.Buffer {
-				var b bytes.Buffer
-				b.WriteString("hello world\nand all the people")
-				return &b
-			},
-			expF: func() *bytes.Buffer {
-				var b bytes.Buffer
-				b.WriteString("hello world...")
-				return &b
+				return bytes.NewBufferString("hello world\nand all the people")
 			},
+			expected: "hello world...",
 		},
 		{
 			name: "should truncate to the maxStderrBytes",
@@ -291,44 +341,19 @@ func TestTruncate(t *testing.T) {
 				}
 				return &b
 			},
-			expF: func() *bytes.Buffer {
-				var b bytes.Buffer
-				for i := 0; i < maxStderrBytes; i++ {
-					b.WriteByte('b')
-				}
-				b.WriteString("...")
-				return &b
-			},
+			expected: strings.Repeat("b", maxStderrBytes) + "...",
 		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			res := truncate(*tt.bufF())
-			require.Equal(t, tt.expF().Bytes(), res.Bytes())
+			buf := tt.bufF()
+			truncate(buf)
+			require.Equal(t, tt.expected, buf.String())
 		})
 	}
 }
 
-func TestRemoveCarriageReturns(t *testing.T) {
-	//nolint:staticcheck // Silence linter for now as we plan to reenable tests for Windows later
-	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
-		// Test that all carriage returns are removed
-		for _, test := range crTests {
-			b := bytes.NewBuffer(test.input)
-			out := removeWindowsCarriageReturns(*b)
-			require.True(t, bytes.Equal(test.output, out.Bytes()))
-		}
-	} else {
-		// Test that the buffer is returned unaltered
-		for _, test := range crTests {
-			b := bytes.NewBuffer(test.input)
-			out := removeWindowsCarriageReturns(*b)
-			require.True(t, bytes.Equal(test.input, out.Bytes()))
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 func TestCSVBehavior(t *testing.T) {
 	// Setup the CSV parser
 	parser := &csv.Parser{
@@ -339,9 +364,11 @@ func TestCSVBehavior(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, parser.Init())
 
 	// Setup the plugin
-	plugin := newExec()
-	plugin.Commands = []string{"echo \"a,b\n1,2\n3,4\""}
-	plugin.Log = testutil.Logger{}
+	plugin := &Exec{
+		Commands: []string{"echo \"a,b\n1,2\n3,4\""},
+		Timeout:  config.Duration(5 * time.Second),
+		Log:      testutil.Logger{},
+	}
 	plugin.SetParser(parser)
 	require.NoError(t, plugin.Init())
 
@@ -407,7 +434,10 @@ func TestCSVBehavior(t *testing.T) {
 func TestCases(t *testing.T) {
 	// Register the plugin
 	inputs.Add("exec", func() telegraf.Input {
-		return newExec()
+		return &Exec{
+			Timeout: config.Duration(5 * time.Second),
+			Log:     testutil.Logger{},
+		}
 	})
 
 	// Setup the plugin
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/exec/run_notwindows.go b/plugins/inputs/exec/run_notwindows.go
index b36599e65..1457f0a20 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/exec/run_notwindows.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/exec/run_notwindows.go
@@ -8,43 +8,33 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"syscall"
-	"time"
 
 	"github.com/kballard/go-shellquote"
 
 	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/internal"
 )
 
-func (c commandRunner) run(
-	command string,
-	environments []string,
-	timeout time.Duration,
-) (out, errout []byte, err error) {
+func (c *commandRunner) run(command string) (out, errout []byte, err error) {
 	splitCmd, err := shellquote.Split(command)
 	if err != nil || len(splitCmd) == 0 {
-		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("exec: unable to parse command: %w", err)
+		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("exec: unable to parse command %q: %w", command, err)
 	}
 
 	cmd := exec.Command(splitCmd[0], splitCmd[1:]...)
 	cmd.SysProcAttr = &syscall.SysProcAttr{Setpgid: true}
 
-	if len(environments) > 0 {
-		cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(), environments...)
+	if len(c.environment) > 0 {
+		cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(), c.environment...)
 	}
 
-	var (
-		outbuf bytes.Buffer
-		stderr bytes.Buffer
-	)
+	var outbuf, stderr bytes.Buffer
 	cmd.Stdout = &outbuf
 	cmd.Stderr = &stderr
 
-	runErr := internal.RunTimeout(cmd, timeout)
+	runErr := internal.RunTimeout(cmd, c.timeout)
 
-	outbuf = removeWindowsCarriageReturns(outbuf)
 	if stderr.Len() > 0 && !c.debug {
-		stderr = removeWindowsCarriageReturns(stderr)
-		stderr = truncate(stderr)
+		truncate(&stderr)
 	}
 
 	return outbuf.Bytes(), stderr.Bytes(), runErr
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/exec/run_windows.go b/plugins/inputs/exec/run_windows.go
index 8cef6e1e3..c07146fe9 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/exec/run_windows.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/exec/run_windows.go
@@ -4,22 +4,19 @@ package exec
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"syscall"
-	"time"
 
 	"github.com/kballard/go-shellquote"
 
 	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/internal"
 )
 
-func (c commandRunner) run(
-	command string,
-	environments []string,
-	timeout time.Duration,
-) (out, errout []byte, err error) {
+func (c *commandRunner) run(command string) (out, errout []byte, err error) {
 	splitCmd, err := shellquote.Split(command)
 	if err != nil || len(splitCmd) == 0 {
 		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("exec: unable to parse command: %w", err)
@@ -30,24 +27,35 @@ func (c commandRunner) run(
 		CreationFlags: syscall.CREATE_NEW_PROCESS_GROUP,
 	}
 
-	if len(environments) > 0 {
-		cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(), environments...)
+	if len(c.environment) > 0 {
+		cmd.Env = append(os.Environ(), c.environment...)
 	}
 
-	var (
-		outbuf bytes.Buffer
-		stderr bytes.Buffer
-	)
+	var outbuf, stderr bytes.Buffer
 	cmd.Stdout = &outbuf
 	cmd.Stderr = &stderr
 
-	runErr := internal.RunTimeout(cmd, timeout)
+	runErr := internal.RunTimeout(cmd, c.timeout)
 
 	outbuf = removeWindowsCarriageReturns(outbuf)
+	stderr = removeWindowsCarriageReturns(stderr)
 	if stderr.Len() > 0 && !c.debug {
-		stderr = removeWindowsCarriageReturns(stderr)
-		stderr = truncate(stderr)
+		truncate(&stderr)
 	}
 
 	return outbuf.Bytes(), stderr.Bytes(), runErr
 }
+
+func removeWindowsCarriageReturns(b bytes.Buffer) bytes.Buffer {
+	var buf bytes.Buffer
+	for {
+		byt, err := b.ReadBytes(0x0D)
+		byt = bytes.TrimRight(byt, "\x0d")
+		if len(byt) > 0 {
+			buf.Write(byt)
+		}
+		if errors.Is(err, io.EOF) {
+			return buf
+		}
+	}
+}