diff --git a/src/builtin.cpp b/src/builtin.cpp
index 43419df69..a87b7ef5e 100644
--- a/src/builtin.cpp
+++ b/src/builtin.cpp
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ wcstring builtin_help_get(parser_t &parser, io_streams_t &streams, const wchar_t
     UNUSED(parser);
     UNUSED(streams);
     // This won't ever work if no_exec is set.
-    if (no_exec) return wcstring();
+    if (no_exec()) return wcstring();
 
     wcstring_list_t lst;
     wcstring out;
diff --git a/src/exec.cpp b/src/exec.cpp
index 8b6d884e6..2dcca1198 100644
--- a/src/exec.cpp
+++ b/src/exec.cpp
@@ -1019,7 +1019,7 @@ bool exec_job(parser_t &parser, shared_ptr<job_t> j) {
     bool exec_error = false;
 
     // If fish was invoked with -n or --no-execute, then no_exec will be set and we do nothing.
-    if (no_exec) {
+    if (no_exec()) {
         return true;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/fish.cpp b/src/fish.cpp
index 2ce6f0828..afc58c4bd 100644
--- a/src/fish.cpp
+++ b/src/fish.cpp
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ static int fish_parse_opt(int argc, char **argv, fish_cmd_opts_t *opts) {
                 break;
             }
             case 'n': {
-                no_exec = 1;
+                set_no_exec(true);
                 break;
             }
             case 1: {
@@ -390,9 +390,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     my_optind = fish_parse_opt(argc, argv, &opts);
 
     // No-exec is prohibited when in interactive mode.
-    if (is_interactive_session && no_exec) {
+    if (is_interactive_session && no_exec()) {
         debug(1, _(L"Can not use the no-execute mode when running an interactive session"));
-        no_exec = 0;
+        set_no_exec(false);
     }
 
     // Only save (and therefore restore) the fg process group if we are interactive. See issues
diff --git a/src/parse_execution.cpp b/src/parse_execution.cpp
index 185012d3b..8ac906ab8 100644
--- a/src/parse_execution.cpp
+++ b/src/parse_execution.cpp
@@ -601,7 +601,7 @@ parse_execution_result_t parse_execution_context_t::run_while_statement(
 
         // no_exec means that fish was invoked with -n or --no-execute. If set, we allow the loop to
         // not-execute once so its contents can be checked, and then break.
-        if (no_exec) {
+        if (no_exec()) {
             break;
         }
     }
@@ -959,7 +959,7 @@ bool parse_execution_context_t::determine_io_chain(tnode_t<g::arguments_or_redir
 
         // PCA: I can't justify this skip_variables flag. It was like this when I got here.
         bool target_expanded =
-            expand_one(target, no_exec ? expand_flag::skip_variables : expand_flags_t{},
+            expand_one(target, no_exec() ? expand_flag::skip_variables : expand_flags_t{},
                        parser->vars(), parser->shared());
         if (!target_expanded || target.empty()) {
             // TODO: Improve this error message.
diff --git a/src/proc.cpp b/src/proc.cpp
index 8dc66a0e1..b6f284e3e 100644
--- a/src/proc.cpp
+++ b/src/proc.cpp
@@ -58,7 +58,10 @@ bool is_block = false;
 bool is_breakpoint = false;
 bool is_login = false;
 int is_event = 0;
-int no_exec = 0;
+
+static relaxed_atomic_bool_t s_no_exec;
+bool no_exec() { return s_no_exec; }
+void set_no_exec(bool flag) { s_no_exec = flag; }
 
 bool have_proc_stat() {
     // Check for /proc/self/stat to see if we are running with Linux-style procfs.
diff --git a/src/proc.h b/src/proc.h
index 8097f96e9..d07a5ecb4 100644
--- a/src/proc.h
+++ b/src/proc.h
@@ -448,7 +448,8 @@ void set_job_control_mode(job_control_t mode);
 /// If this flag is set, fish will never fork or run execve. It is used to put fish into a syntax
 /// verifier mode where fish tries to validate the syntax of a file but doesn't actually do
 /// anything.
-extern int no_exec;
+bool no_exec();
+void set_no_exec(bool flag);
 
 /// Notify the user about stopped or terminated jobs, and delete completed jobs from the job list.
 /// If \p interactive is set, allow removing interactive jobs; otherwise skip them.