diff --git a/docs/changelog/212.security.rst b/docs/changelog/212.security.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a556dac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/212.security.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Skip PEP 514 registry entries with relative or non-string executable paths and continue interpreter discovery.
diff --git a/src/python_discovery/_windows/_pep514.py b/src/python_discovery/_windows/_pep514.py
index 7f20e1c..6f094dd 100644
--- a/src/python_discovery/_windows/_pep514.py
+++ b/src/python_discovery/_windows/_pep514.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 import sys
 import winreg
 from logging import basicConfig, getLogger
+from pathlib import PureWindowsPath
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Final
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -136,12 +137,16 @@ def load_exe(hive_name: str, company: str, company_key: Any, tag: str) -> tuple[
 
 
 def _resolve_exe(ip_key: Any, key_path: str) -> str | None:  # ruff:ignore[any-type]
-    if (exe := get_value(ip_key, "ExecutablePath")) is not None:
-        return exe
-    if (ip := get_value(ip_key, None)) is None:
-        msg(key_path, "no ExecutablePath or default for it")
+    if (exe := get_value(ip_key, "ExecutablePath")) is None:
+        if (exe := get_value(ip_key, None)) is None:
+            msg(key_path, "no ExecutablePath or default for it")
+            return None
+        if isinstance(exe, str):
+            exe = os.path.join(exe, "python.exe")
+    if not isinstance(exe, str) or not PureWindowsPath(exe).is_absolute():
+        msg(key_path, f"expected an absolute executable path, got {exe!r}")
         return None
-    return os.path.join(ip, "python.exe")
+    return exe
 
 
 def load_arch_data(hive_name: str, company: str, tag: str, tag_key: Any, default_arch: int) -> int | None:  # ruff:ignore[any-type]
diff --git a/tests/windows/test_windows_pep514.py b/tests/windows/test_windows_pep514.py
index bb9250e..7b95781 100644
--- a/tests/windows/test_windows_pep514.py
+++ b/tests/windows/test_windows_pep514.py
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ def test_pep514_run(capsys: pytest.CaptureFixture[str], caplog: pytest.LogCaptur
 
     pep514._run()
     out, err = capsys.readouterr()
-    py = r"C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Programs\Python"
+    py = r"C:\\Users\\user\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Python"
     expected = textwrap.dedent(
         rf"""
     ('CompanyA', 3, 6, 64, False, 'Z:\\CompanyA\\Python\\3.6\\python.exe', None)
@@ -168,6 +168,40 @@ def test_pep514_run(capsys: pytest.CaptureFixture[str], caplog: pytest.LogCaptur
     assert caplog.messages == expected_logs
 
 
+@pytest.mark.usefixtures("_mock_registry")
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("executable_path", "install_path"),
+    [
+        pytest.param(r"%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Python\Python311\python.exe", None, id="unexpanded-variable"),
+        pytest.param("python.exe", None, id="bare-name"),
+        pytest.param(r"bin\python.exe", None, id="relative"),
+        pytest.param("C:python.exe", None, id="drive-relative"),
+        pytest.param(r"\Python311\python.exe", None, id="current-drive"),
+        pytest.param(42, None, id="integer-executable"),
+        pytest.param(b"C:\\python.exe", None, id="bytes-executable"),
+        pytest.param(["C:\\python.exe"], None, id="list-executable"),
+        pytest.param(None, "", id="empty-install-path"),
+        pytest.param(None, "Python311", id="relative-install-path"),
+        pytest.param(None, 42, id="integer-install-path"),
+    ],
+)
+def test_pep514_rejects_non_absolute_executable(
+    mocker: MockerFixture,
+    caplog: pytest.LogCaptureFixture,
+    executable_path: str | int | bytes | list[str] | None,
+    install_path: str | int | None,
+) -> None:
+    from python_discovery._windows import _pep514 as pep514
+
+    registered = {"ExecutablePath": executable_path, None: install_path}
+    mocker.patch.object(pep514.winreg, "OpenKeyEx", return_value=MagicMock())
+    mocker.patch.object(pep514, "get_value", side_effect=lambda _key, name: registered.get(name))
+    mocker.patch.object(pep514.os.path, "exists", return_value=True)
+
+    assert pep514.load_exe("HKCU", "PythonCore", MagicMock(), "3.11") is None
+    assert "expected an absolute executable path" in caplog.text
+
+
 @pytest.fixture
 def load_exe_with_args(mocker: MockerFixture) -> Callable[[object], tuple[str, str | None] | None]:
     from python_discovery._windows import _pep514 as pep514