diff --git a/cylc/flow/scripts/cylc.py b/cylc/flow/scripts/cylc.py
index cabcec553e9..4ca411f8e9b 100644
--- a/cylc/flow/scripts/cylc.py
+++ b/cylc/flow/scripts/cylc.py
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ def get_version(long=False):
     from pathlib import Path
     version = f"{__version__}"
     if long:
-        version += f" ({Path(sys.executable).parent.parent})"
+        version += f" ({Path(sys.argv[0])})"
     return version
 
 
diff --git a/tests/functional/cli/01-help.t b/tests/functional/cli/01-help.t
index 935864e1873..b8f1bd38583 100755
--- a/tests/functional/cli/01-help.t
+++ b/tests/functional/cli/01-help.t
@@ -79,12 +79,7 @@ run_ok "${TEST_NAME_BASE}-id" cylc help id
 
 # Check "cylc version --long" output is correct.
 cylc version --long | head -n 1 > long1
-WHICH="$(command -v cylc)"
-PARENT1="$(dirname "${WHICH}")"
-PARENT2="$(dirname "${PARENT1}")"
-echo "$(cylc version) (${PARENT2})" > long2
-# the concise version of the above is a bash quoting nightmare:
-# echo "$(cylc version) ($(dirname $(dirname $(which cylc))))" > long2
+echo "$(cylc version) ($(command -v cylc))" > long2
 cmp_ok long1 long2
 
 # --help with no DISPLAY