diff --git a/src/fe-common/core/fe-exec.c b/src/fe-common/core/fe-exec.c
index 388f88ac..4d9152ec 100644
--- a/src/fe-common/core/fe-exec.c
+++ b/src/fe-common/core/fe-exec.c
@@ -493,7 +493,7 @@ static void handle_exec(const char *args, GHashTable *optlist,
 	rec->name = g_strdup(g_hash_table_lookup(optlist, "name"));
 
 	level = g_hash_table_lookup(optlist, "level");
-	rec->level = level == NULL ? MSGLEVEL_CLIENTNOTICE : level2bits(level);
+	rec->level = level == NULL ? MSGLEVEL_CLIENTCRAP : level2bits(level);
 
 	rec->read_tag = g_input_add(rec->in, G_INPUT_READ,
 				    (GInputFunction) sig_exec_input_reader,