diff --git a/lib/std/Io.zig b/lib/std/Io.zig
index 7b06ccfb6a..932879c99e 100644
--- a/lib/std/Io.zig
+++ b/lib/std/Io.zig
@@ -218,6 +218,7 @@ pub const VTable = struct {
     unlockStderr: *const fn (?*anyopaque) void,
     processCurrentPath: *const fn (?*anyopaque, buffer: []u8) std.process.CurrentPathError!usize,
     processSetCurrentDir: *const fn (?*anyopaque, Dir) std.process.SetCurrentDirError!void,
+    processSetCurrentPath: *const fn (?*anyopaque, []const u8) std.process.SetCurrentPathError!void,
     processReplace: *const fn (?*anyopaque, std.process.ReplaceOptions) std.process.ReplaceError,
     processReplacePath: *const fn (?*anyopaque, Dir, std.process.ReplaceOptions) std.process.ReplaceError,
     processSpawn: *const fn (?*anyopaque, std.process.SpawnOptions) std.process.SpawnError!std.process.Child,
diff --git a/lib/std/Io/Dispatch.zig b/lib/std/Io/Dispatch.zig
index 947e8e3070..a9bd960a34 100644
--- a/lib/std/Io/Dispatch.zig
+++ b/lib/std/Io/Dispatch.zig
@@ -434,6 +434,7 @@ pub fn io(ev: *Evented) Io {
             .unlockStderr = unlockStderr,
             .processCurrentPath = processCurrentPath,
             .processSetCurrentDir = processSetCurrentDir,
+            .processSetCurrentPath = processSetCurrentPath,
             .processReplace = processReplace,
             .processReplacePath = processReplacePath,
             .processSpawn = processSpawn,
@@ -4046,7 +4047,7 @@ fn processSetCurrentDir(userdata: ?*anyopaque, dir: Dir) process.SetCurrentDirEr
     };
 }
 
-fn processSetCurrentPath(userdata: ?*anyopaque, dir_path: []const u8) ChdirError!void {
+fn processSetCurrentPath(userdata: ?*anyopaque, dir_path: []const u8) process.SetCurrentPathError!void {
     const ev: *Evented = @ptrCast(@alignCast(userdata));
     _ = ev;
     var path_buffer: [c.PATH_MAX]u8 = undefined;
diff --git a/lib/std/Io/Threaded.zig b/lib/std/Io/Threaded.zig
index b1804c4605..ca658f0569 100644
--- a/lib/std/Io/Threaded.zig
+++ b/lib/std/Io/Threaded.zig
@@ -1841,6 +1841,7 @@ pub fn io(t: *Threaded) Io {
             .unlockStderr = unlockStderr,
             .processCurrentPath = processCurrentPath,
             .processSetCurrentDir = processSetCurrentDir,
+            .processSetCurrentPath = processSetCurrentPath,
             .processReplace = processReplace,
             .processReplacePath = processReplacePath,
             .processSpawn = processSpawn,
@@ -2006,6 +2007,7 @@ pub fn ioBasic(t: *Threaded) Io {
             .unlockStderr = unlockStderr,
             .processCurrentPath = processCurrentPath,
             .processSetCurrentDir = processSetCurrentDir,
+            .processSetCurrentPath = processSetCurrentPath,
             .processReplace = processReplace,
             .processReplacePath = processReplacePath,
             .processSpawn = processSpawn,
@@ -14176,6 +14178,43 @@ fn processSetCurrentDir(userdata: ?*anyopaque, dir: Dir) process.SetCurrentDirEr
     return fchdir(dir.handle);
 }
 
+fn processSetCurrentPath(userdata: ?*anyopaque, path: []const u8) process.SetCurrentPathError!void {
+    const t: *Threaded = @ptrCast(@alignCast(userdata));
+    _ = t;
+
+    if (native_os == .wasi) return error.OperationUnsupported;
+
+    if (is_windows) {
+        var path_w_buf: [windows.PATH_MAX_WIDE]u16 = undefined;
+        const len = std.unicode.calcWtf16LeLen(path) catch return error.InvalidWtf8;
+        if (len > path_w_buf.len) return error.NameTooLong;
+        const path_w_len = std.unicode.wtf8ToWtf16Le(&path_w_buf, path) catch |err| switch (err) {
+            error.InvalidWtf8 => unreachable, // already validated
+        };
+        const path_w = path_w_buf[0..path_w_len];
+
+        const syscall: Syscall = try .start();
+        while (true) switch (windows.ntdll.RtlSetCurrentDirectory_U(&.init(path_w))) {
+            .SUCCESS => return syscall.finish(),
+            .OBJECT_NAME_INVALID => return syscall.fail(error.BadPathName),
+            .OBJECT_NAME_NOT_FOUND => return syscall.fail(error.FileNotFound),
+            .OBJECT_PATH_NOT_FOUND => return syscall.fail(error.FileNotFound),
+            .NO_MEDIA_IN_DEVICE => return syscall.fail(error.NoDevice),
+            .INVALID_PARAMETER => |err| return syscall.ntstatusBug(err),
+            .ACCESS_DENIED => return syscall.fail(error.AccessDenied),
+            .OBJECT_PATH_SYNTAX_BAD => |err| return syscall.ntstatusBug(err),
+            .NOT_A_DIRECTORY => return syscall.fail(error.NotDir),
+            .CANCELLED => {
+                try syscall.checkCancel();
+                continue;
+            },
+            else => |status| return syscall.unexpectedNtstatus(status),
+        };
+    }
+
+    return chdir(path);
+}
+
 pub const PosixAddress = extern union {
     any: posix.sockaddr,
     in: posix.sockaddr.in,
diff --git a/lib/std/Io/Uring.zig b/lib/std/Io/Uring.zig
index 6031b1b298..843c1a0c3c 100644
--- a/lib/std/Io/Uring.zig
+++ b/lib/std/Io/Uring.zig
@@ -752,6 +752,7 @@ pub fn io(ev: *Evented) Io {
             .unlockStderr = unlockStderr,
             .processCurrentPath = processCurrentPath,
             .processSetCurrentDir = processSetCurrentDir,
+            .processSetCurrentPath = processSetCurrentPath,
             .processReplace = processReplace,
             .processReplacePath = processReplacePath,
             .processSpawn = processSpawn,
@@ -4176,7 +4177,7 @@ fn processSetCurrentDir(userdata: ?*anyopaque, dir: Dir) process.SetCurrentDirEr
     return fchdir(&sync, dir.handle);
 }
 
-fn processSetCurrentPath(userdata: ?*anyopaque, dir_path: []const u8) ChdirError!void {
+fn processSetCurrentPath(userdata: ?*anyopaque, dir_path: []const u8) process.SetCurrentPathError!void {
     const ev: *Evented = @ptrCast(@alignCast(userdata));
     var path_buffer: [PATH_MAX]u8 = undefined;
     const dir_path_posix = try pathToPosix(dir_path, &path_buffer);
diff --git a/lib/std/process.zig b/lib/std/process.zig
index 701eb434b5..857a79dd93 100644
--- a/lib/std/process.zig
+++ b/lib/std/process.zig
@@ -900,6 +900,35 @@ pub fn setCurrentDir(io: Io, dir: Io.Dir) !void {
     return io.vtable.processSetCurrentDir(io.userdata, dir);
 }
 
+pub const SetCurrentPathError = error{
+    AccessDenied,
+    SymLinkLoop,
+    SystemResources,
+    BadPathName,
+    FileNotFound,
+    FileSystem,
+    NoDevice,
+    NotDir,
+    NameTooLong,
+    OperationUnsupported,
+    /// Windows-only. The path is invalid WTF-8.
+    /// https://wtf-8.codeberg.page/
+    InvalidWtf8,
+} || Io.Cancelable || Io.UnexpectedError;
+
+/// Changes the current working directory to the given path.
+/// Corresponds to "chdir" in libc.
+///
+/// This modifies global process state and can have surprising effects in
+/// multithreaded applications. Most applications and especially libraries
+/// should not call this function as a general rule, however it can have use
+/// cases in, for example, implementing a shell, or child process execution.
+///
+/// Calling this function makes code less portable and less reusable.
+pub fn setCurrentPath(io: Io, path: []const u8) !void {
+    return io.vtable.processSetCurrentPath(io.userdata, path);
+}
+
 pub const LockMemoryError = error{
     UnsupportedOperation,
     PermissionDenied,
diff --git a/test/standalone/posix/cwd.zig b/test/standalone/posix/cwd.zig
index 2588bde34f..56b4f1ba70 100644
--- a/test/standalone/posix/cwd.zig
+++ b/test/standalone/posix/cwd.zig
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ fn test_chdir_self(io: Io) !void {
     const old_cwd = old_cwd_buf[0..try std.process.currentPath(io, &old_cwd_buf)];
 
     // Try changing to the current directory
-    try std.Io.Threaded.chdir(old_cwd);
+    try std.process.setCurrentPath(io, old_cwd);
     try expect_cwd(io, old_cwd);
 }
 
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ fn test_chdir_absolute(io: Io) !void {
     const parent = std.fs.path.dirname(old_cwd) orelse unreachable; // old_cwd should be absolute
 
     // Try changing to the parent via a full path
-    try std.Io.Threaded.chdir(parent);
+    try std.process.setCurrentPath(io, parent);
 
     try expect_cwd(io, parent);
 }
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ fn test_chdir_relative(gpa: Allocator, io: Io, tmp_dir: Io.Dir) !void {
     defer gpa.free(expected_path);
 
     // change current working directory to new test directory
-    try std.Io.Threaded.chdir(subdir_path);
+    try std.process.setCurrentPath(io, subdir_path);
 
     var new_cwd_buf: [path_max]u8 = undefined;
     const new_cwd = new_cwd_buf[0..try std.process.currentPath(io, &new_cwd_buf)];
diff --git a/test/standalone/windows_spawn/main.zig b/test/standalone/windows_spawn/main.zig
index ea28900dac..853f6125fb 100644
--- a/test/standalone/windows_spawn/main.zig
+++ b/test/standalone/windows_spawn/main.zig
@@ -9,8 +9,6 @@ pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
     const gpa = init.gpa;
     const io = init.io;
     const process_cwd_path = try std.process.currentPathAlloc(io, init.arena.allocator());
-    var initial_process_cwd = try Io.Dir.cwd().openDir(io, ".", .{});
-    defer initial_process_cwd.close(io);
 
     var it = try init.minimal.args.iterateAllocator(gpa);
     defer it.deinit();
@@ -127,7 +125,7 @@ pub fn main(init: std.process.Init) !void {
 
     // Now let's set the tmp dir as the cwd and set the path only include the "something" sub dir
     try std.process.setCurrentDir(io, tmp_dir);
-    defer std.process.setCurrentDir(io, initial_process_cwd) catch {};
+    defer std.process.setCurrentPath(io, process_cwd_path) catch {};
     const something_subdir_abs_path = try std.mem.concatWithSentinel(gpa, u16, &.{ tmp_absolute_path_w, utf16Literal("\\something") }, 0);
     defer gpa.free(something_subdir_abs_path);