diff --git a/lib/utils.js b/lib/utils.js
index d8d70361..66166db1 100644
--- a/lib/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils.js
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import _ from 'lodash';
 import { util, net } from 'appium/support';
 import { promisify } from 'node:util';
 import { exec } from 'node:child_process';
@@ -21,8 +22,12 @@ export async function shellExec(cmd, args = [], opts = {}) {
     timeoutMs = 60 * 1000 * 5
   } = opts;
   const fullCmd = util.quote([cmd, ...args]);
-  return await B.resolve(execAsync(fullCmd, opts))
+  const { stdout, stderr } = await B.resolve(execAsync(fullCmd, opts))
     .timeout(timeoutMs, `The command '${fullCmd}' timed out after ${timeoutMs}ms`);
+  return {
+    stdout: _.isString(stdout) ? stdout : stdout.toString(),
+    stderr: _.isString(stderr) ? stderr : stderr.toString(),
+  };
 }
 
 /**