diff --git a/kitty/main.py b/kitty/main.py
index a6fc26dcf..5a5c3af40 100644
--- a/kitty/main.py
+++ b/kitty/main.py
@@ -226,7 +226,18 @@ def setup_environment(opts, args):
         if 'EDITOR' not in os.environ:
             shell_env = read_shell_environment(opts)
             if 'EDITOR' in shell_env:
-                os.environ['EDITOR'] = shell_env['EDITOR']
+                editor = shell_env['EDITOR']
+                if 'PATH' in shell_env:
+                    import shlex
+                    editor_cmd = shlex.split(editor)
+                    if not os.path.isabs(editor_cmd[0]):
+                        editor_cmd[0] = shutil.which(editor_cmd[0], path=shell_env['PATH'])
+                        if editor_cmd[0]:
+                            editor = ' '.join(map(shlex.quote, editor_cmd))
+                        else:
+                            editor = None
+                if editor:
+                    os.environ['EDITOR'] = editor
     else:
         os.environ['EDITOR'] = opts.editor
     if args.listen_on: