diff --git a/CHANGELOG_NEXT.md b/CHANGELOG_NEXT.md
index 9c3841ce8..b61848bed 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG_NEXT.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG_NEXT.md
@@ -21,6 +21,12 @@ This CHANGELOG describes the merged but unreleased changes. Please see [CHANGELO
 
 ### Compiler changes
 
+#### NodeJS Backend
+
+* The NodeJS executable output to `build/exec/` now has its executable bit set.
+  That file already had a NodeJS shebang at the top, so now it is fully ready to
+  go after compilation.
+
 ### Library changes
 
 #### Prelude
diff --git a/src/Compiler/ES/Node.idr b/src/Compiler/ES/Node.idr
index 3d67689be..320385647 100644
--- a/src/Compiler/ES/Node.idr
+++ b/src/Compiler/ES/Node.idr
@@ -14,17 +14,21 @@ import Core.TT
 import Libraries.Utils.Path
 
 import System
+import System.File.Permissions
 
 import Data.Maybe
 
 %default covering
 
+envNode : String
+envNode = "/usr/bin/env node"
+
 findNode : IO String
 findNode = do
    Nothing <- idrisGetEnv "NODE"
       | Just node => pure node
    path <- pathLookup ["node"]
-   pure $ fromMaybe "/usr/bin/env node" path
+   pure $ fromMaybe envNode path
 
 ||| Compile a TT expression to Node
 compileToNode :
@@ -36,7 +40,7 @@ compileToNode c s tm = do
   pure $ shebang ++ js
   where
     shebang : String
-    shebang = "#!/usr/bin/env node\n"
+    shebang = "#!\{envNode}\n"
 
 ||| Node implementation of the `compileExpr` interface.
 compileExpr :
@@ -51,6 +55,7 @@ compileExpr c s tmpDir outputDir tm outfile =
   do es <- compileToNode c s tm
      let out = outputDir </> outfile
      Core.writeFile out es
+     coreLift_ $ chmodRaw out 0o755
      pure (Just out)
 
 ||| Node implementation of the `executeExpr` interface.
diff --git a/tests/node/executable/TestExecutable.idr b/tests/node/executable/TestExecutable.idr
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..29bda8f53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/node/executable/TestExecutable.idr
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+module TestExecutable
+
+import System
+
+main : IO ()
+main = putStrLn "Hi there!"
diff --git a/tests/node/executable/expected b/tests/node/executable/expected
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c9f384789
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/node/executable/expected
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Hi there!
+Hi there!
diff --git a/tests/node/executable/run b/tests/node/executable/run
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c8d3201f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/node/executable/run
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+. ../../testutils.sh
+
+idris2 --cg node -o node_executable TestExecutable.idr > /dev/null
+
+# node still executes it:
+node ./build/exec/node_executable
+
+# it can be executed on its own due to shebang and executable bit:
+# (/usr/bin/env as used in shebang is problematic in edge cases
+#  but still generally a good bet; we will make sure the test works
+#  even when /usr/bin/env cannot be used)
+fallback () {
+  nodejs="$(command -v node)"
+  # cross-platform supported sed-ing (unlike with in-place option)
+  cp ./build/exec/node_executable ./build/exec/node_executable_src
+  sed "s#/usr/bin/env node#$nodejs#" ./build/exec/node_executable_src > ./build/exec/node_executable
+  ./build/exec/node_executable
+}
+./build/exec/node_executable || fallback