diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/container/helpers.go b/pkg/kubelet/container/helpers.go
index b5c5634d445..2c1be7660ca 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/container/helpers.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/container/helpers.go
@@ -119,10 +119,33 @@ func EnvVarsToMap(envs []EnvVar) map[string]string {
 	for _, env := range envs {
 		result[env.Name] = env.Value
 	}
+	return result
+}
+
+// V1EnvVarsToMap constructs a map of environment name to value from a slice
+// of env vars.
+func V1EnvVarsToMap(envs []v1.EnvVar) map[string]string {
+	result := map[string]string{}
+	for _, env := range envs {
+		result[env.Name] = env.Value
+	}
 
 	return result
 }
 
+// ExpandContainerCommandOnlyStatic substitutes only static environment variable values from the
+// container environment definitions. This does *not* include valueFrom substitutions.
+// TODO: callers should use ExpandContainerCommandAndArgs with a fully resolved list of environment.
+func ExpandContainerCommandOnlyStatic(containerCommand []string, envs []v1.EnvVar) (command []string) {
+	mapping := expansion.MappingFuncFor(V1EnvVarsToMap(envs))
+	if len(containerCommand) != 0 {
+		for _, cmd := range containerCommand {
+			command = append(command, expansion.Expand(cmd, mapping))
+		}
+	}
+	return command
+}
+
 func ExpandContainerCommandAndArgs(container *v1.Container, envs []EnvVar) (command []string, args []string) {
 	mapping := expansion.MappingFuncFor(EnvVarsToMap(envs))
 
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/prober/BUILD b/pkg/kubelet/prober/BUILD
index 7b0e9369081..961b011e1bd 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/prober/BUILD
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/prober/BUILD
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ go_test(
         "//pkg/kubelet/status:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/kubelet/status/testing:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/probe:go_default_library",
+        "//pkg/probe/exec:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/util/exec:go_default_library",
         "//vendor:github.com/golang/glog",
         "//vendor:k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1",
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/prober/common_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/prober/common_test.go
index 6044cfe084c..409dbdf4236 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/prober/common_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/prober/common_test.go
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ type fakeExecProber struct {
 	err    error
 }
 
-func (p fakeExecProber) Probe(_ exec.Cmd) (probe.Result, string, error) {
+func (p fakeExecProber) Probe(c exec.Cmd) (probe.Result, string, error) {
 	return p.result, "", p.err
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/prober/prober.go b/pkg/kubelet/prober/prober.go
index 323e6c88d5d..47f85b9824c 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/prober/prober.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/prober/prober.go
@@ -143,7 +143,8 @@ func (pb *prober) runProbe(p *v1.Probe, pod *v1.Pod, status v1.PodStatus, contai
 	timeout := time.Duration(p.TimeoutSeconds) * time.Second
 	if p.Exec != nil {
 		glog.V(4).Infof("Exec-Probe Pod: %v, Container: %v, Command: %v", pod, container, p.Exec.Command)
-		return pb.exec.Probe(pb.newExecInContainer(container, containerID, p.Exec.Command, timeout))
+		command := kubecontainer.ExpandContainerCommandOnlyStatic(p.Exec.Command, container.Env)
+		return pb.exec.Probe(pb.newExecInContainer(container, containerID, command, timeout))
 	}
 	if p.HTTPGet != nil {
 		scheme := strings.ToLower(string(p.HTTPGet.Scheme))
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/prober/prober_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/prober/prober_test.go
index 5f4393ded77..a8c784cc6bd 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/prober/prober_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/prober/prober_test.go
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import (
 	containertest "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/container/testing"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/prober/results"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/probe"
+	execprobe "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/probe/exec"
 )
 
 func TestFormatURL(t *testing.T) {
@@ -197,10 +198,6 @@ func TestHTTPHeaders(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestProbe(t *testing.T) {
-	prober := &prober{
-		refManager: kubecontainer.NewRefManager(),
-		recorder:   &record.FakeRecorder{},
-	}
 	containerID := kubecontainer.ContainerID{Type: "test", ID: "foobar"}
 
 	execProbe := &v1.Probe{
@@ -210,10 +207,12 @@ func TestProbe(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	tests := []struct {
 		probe          *v1.Probe
+		env            []v1.EnvVar
 		execError      bool
 		expectError    bool
 		execResult     probe.Result
 		expectedResult results.Result
+		expectCommand  []string
 	}{
 		{ // No probe
 			probe:          nil,
@@ -246,12 +245,43 @@ func TestProbe(t *testing.T) {
 			execResult:     probe.Unknown,
 			expectedResult: results.Failure,
 		},
+		{ // Probe arguments are passed through
+			probe: &v1.Probe{
+				Handler: v1.Handler{
+					Exec: &v1.ExecAction{
+						Command: []string{"/bin/bash", "-c", "some script"},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			expectCommand:  []string{"/bin/bash", "-c", "some script"},
+			execResult:     probe.Success,
+			expectedResult: results.Success,
+		},
+		{ // Probe arguments are passed through
+			probe: &v1.Probe{
+				Handler: v1.Handler{
+					Exec: &v1.ExecAction{
+						Command: []string{"/bin/bash", "-c", "some $(A) $(B)"},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			env: []v1.EnvVar{
+				{Name: "A", Value: "script"},
+			},
+			expectCommand:  []string{"/bin/bash", "-c", "some script $(B)"},
+			execResult:     probe.Success,
+			expectedResult: results.Success,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for i, test := range tests {
 		for _, probeType := range [...]probeType{liveness, readiness} {
+			prober := &prober{
+				refManager: kubecontainer.NewRefManager(),
+				recorder:   &record.FakeRecorder{},
+			}
 			testID := fmt.Sprintf("%d-%s", i, probeType)
-			testContainer := v1.Container{}
+			testContainer := v1.Container{Env: test.env}
 			switch probeType {
 			case liveness:
 				testContainer.LivenessProbe = test.probe
@@ -274,6 +304,19 @@ func TestProbe(t *testing.T) {
 			if test.expectedResult != result {
 				t.Errorf("[%s] Expected result to be %v but was %v", testID, test.expectedResult, result)
 			}
+
+			if len(test.expectCommand) > 0 {
+				prober.exec = execprobe.New()
+				prober.runner = &containertest.FakeContainerCommandRunner{}
+				_, err := prober.probe(probeType, &v1.Pod{}, v1.PodStatus{}, testContainer, containerID)
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Errorf("[%s] Didn't expect probe error but got: %v", testID, err)
+					continue
+				}
+				if !reflect.DeepEqual(test.expectCommand, prober.runner.(*containertest.FakeContainerCommandRunner).Cmd) {
+					t.Errorf("[%s] unexpected probe arguments: %v", testID, prober.runner.(*containertest.FakeContainerCommandRunner).Cmd)
+				}
+			}
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/prober/worker.go b/pkg/kubelet/prober/worker.go
index 1cf52680321..6f55fb86dcb 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/prober/worker.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/prober/worker.go
@@ -193,6 +193,9 @@ func (w *worker) doProbe() (keepGoing bool) {
 		return true
 	}
 
+	// TODO: in order for exec probes to correctly handle downward API env, we must be able to reconstruct
+	// the full container environment here, OR we must make a call to the CRI in order to get those environment
+	// values from the running container.
 	result, err := w.probeManager.prober.probe(w.probeType, w.pod, status, w.container, w.containerID)
 	if err != nil {
 		// Prober error, throw away the result.