diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/env.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/env.py
index ae5b320b19a..ee9d556b675 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/env.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/env.py
@@ -270,7 +270,8 @@ def create_temp_env_directory():
 def _tty_info(msg):
     """tty.info like function that prints the equivalent printf statement for eval."""
     decorated = f'{colorize("@*b{==>}")} {msg}\n'
-    print(f"printf {shlex.quote(decorated)};")
+    executor = "echo" if sys.platform == "win32" else "printf"
+    print(f"{executor} {shlex.quote(decorated)};")
 
 
 def env_activate(args):