diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/externalTerminal/node/externalTerminalService.ts b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/externalTerminal/node/externalTerminalService.ts
index 38f4bc89d92..d894850a728 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/externalTerminal/node/externalTerminalService.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/externalTerminal/node/externalTerminalService.ts
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ export class LinuxExternalTerminalService implements IExternalTerminalService {
  * tries to turn OS errors into more meaningful error messages
  */
 function improveError(err: Error): Error {
-	if (err['errno'] === 'ENOENT' && err['path']) {
+	if ('errno' in err && err['errno'] === 'ENOENT' && 'path' in err && typeof err['path'] === 'string') {
 		return new Error(nls.localize('ext.term.app.not.found', "can't find terminal application '{0}'", err['path']));
 	}
 	return err;