diff --git a/bin/cli/commands/dashboard.mjs b/bin/cli/commands/dashboard.mjs
index 44d2da1df9..42157d27fb 100644
--- a/bin/cli/commands/dashboard.mjs
+++ b/bin/cli/commands/dashboard.mjs
@@ -49,22 +49,22 @@ export async function runDashboardCommand(opts = {}) {
   return 0;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Resolve the command and args to open a URL in the default browser
+ * for a given platform. Exported for testing — callers should use openFallback().
+ * @param {"darwin"|"win32"|string} platform
+ * @param {string} url
+ * @returns {{ cmd: string, args: string[] }}
+ */
+export function resolveOpenCommand(platform, url) {
+  if (platform === "darwin") return { cmd: "open", args: [url] };
+  if (platform === "win32") return { cmd: "rundll32", args: ["url.dll,FileProtocolHandler", url] };
+  return { cmd: "xdg-open", args: [url] };
+}
+
 function openFallback(url) {
   return new Promise((resolve) => {
-    const { platform } = process;
-    let cmd, args;
-
-    if (platform === "darwin") {
-      cmd = "open";
-      args = [url];
-    } else if (platform === "win32") {
-      cmd = "cmd";
-      args = ["/c", "start", "", url];
-    } else {
-      cmd = "xdg-open";
-      args = [url];
-    }
-
+    const { cmd, args } = resolveOpenCommand(process.platform, url);
     execFile(cmd, args, { stdio: "ignore" }, () => resolve());
   });
 }
diff --git a/changelog.d/fixes/7844-dashboard-no-cmd-fallback.md b/changelog.d/fixes/7844-dashboard-no-cmd-fallback.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5f603edaa8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/fixes/7844-dashboard-no-cmd-fallback.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- **fix(cli):** Windows `omniroute dashboard` browser fallback uses `rundll32` instead of `cmd.exe` to open the dashboard URL, avoiding an unnecessary shell spawn ([#7844](https://github.com/diegosouzapw/OmniRoute/pull/7842))
diff --git a/tests/unit/cli-dashboard-open-fallback.test.ts b/tests/unit/cli-dashboard-open-fallback.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ecc6cc2436
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/cli-dashboard-open-fallback.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+import test from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { resolveOpenCommand } from "../../bin/cli/commands/dashboard.mjs";
+
+test("openFallback: darwin uses 'open' command", () => {
+  const { cmd, args } = resolveOpenCommand("darwin", "http://localhost:20128");
+  assert.equal(cmd, "open");
+  assert.deepEqual(args, ["http://localhost:20128"]);
+});
+
+test("openFallback: win32 uses 'rundll32 url.dll,FileProtocolHandler' instead of cmd.exe", () => {
+  const { cmd, args } = resolveOpenCommand("win32", "http://localhost:20128");
+  assert.equal(cmd, "rundll32");
+  assert.deepEqual(args, ["url.dll,FileProtocolHandler", "http://localhost:20128"]);
+  assert.notEqual(cmd, "cmd");
+});
+
+test("openFallback: linux/other uses 'xdg-open' command", () => {
+  const { cmd, args } = resolveOpenCommand("linux", "http://localhost:20128");
+  assert.equal(cmd, "xdg-open");
+  assert.deepEqual(args, ["http://localhost:20128"]);
+});
+
+test("openFallback: unknown platform falls back to xdg-open", () => {
+  const { cmd, args } = resolveOpenCommand("aix", "http://localhost:20128");
+  assert.equal(cmd, "xdg-open");
+  assert.deepEqual(args, ["http://localhost:20128"]);
+});
+
+test("openFallback: URL with special characters is passed through verbatim", () => {
+  const url = "http://localhost:20128/dashboard?q=test&filter=a+b";
+  const { cmd, args } = resolveOpenCommand("win32", url);
+  assert.equal(cmd, "rundll32");
+  assert.equal(args[1], url);
+});