diff --git a/packages/tangle-cli/src/tangle_cli/component_from_func.py b/packages/tangle-cli/src/tangle_cli/component_from_func.py
index 112439c..7030530 100644
--- a/packages/tangle-cli/src/tangle_cli/component_from_func.py
+++ b/packages/tangle-cli/src/tangle_cli/component_from_func.py
@@ -1882,7 +1882,7 @@ def _build_pip_install_command(deps: list[str]) -> list[str]:
     return [
         "sh",
         "-c",
-        f'({install_cmd} || {install_cmd} --user) && "$0" "$@"',
+        f'({install_cmd} || {install_cmd} --user) && exec "$0" "$@"',
     ]
 
 
@@ -2013,7 +2013,7 @@ def build_component_dict(
     shell_bootstrap = textwrap.dedent("""\
         program_path=$(mktemp)
         printf "%s" "$0" > "$program_path"
-        python3 -u "$program_path" "$@"
+        exec python3 -u "$program_path" "$@"
     """)
 
     command = pip_install + ["sh", "-ec", shell_bootstrap, python_source]
diff --git a/tests/snapshots/component_generator/bundle_mode.expected.yaml b/tests/snapshots/component_generator/bundle_mode.expected.yaml
index 932fe71..268fbee 100644
--- a/tests/snapshots/component_generator/bundle_mode.expected.yaml
+++ b/tests/snapshots/component_generator/bundle_mode.expected.yaml
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ implementation:
     - |
       program_path=$(mktemp)
       printf "%s" "$0" > "$program_path"
-      python3 -u "$program_path" "$@"
+      exec python3 -u "$program_path" "$@"
     - |
       def _serialize_str(str_value) -> str:
           if isinstance(str_value, str):
diff --git a/tests/snapshots/component_generator/complete_generation.expected.yaml b/tests/snapshots/component_generator/complete_generation.expected.yaml
index 4cbf839..19a34c6 100644
--- a/tests/snapshots/component_generator/complete_generation.expected.yaml
+++ b/tests/snapshots/component_generator/complete_generation.expected.yaml
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ implementation:
     - |
       program_path=$(mktemp)
       printf "%s" "$0" > "$program_path"
-      python3 -u "$program_path" "$@"
+      exec python3 -u "$program_path" "$@"
     - |
       #!/usr/bin/env python3
       """Module docstring."""
diff --git a/tests/snapshots/component_generator/helper_functions.expected.yaml b/tests/snapshots/component_generator/helper_functions.expected.yaml
index 5464512..3cb14c5 100644
--- a/tests/snapshots/component_generator/helper_functions.expected.yaml
+++ b/tests/snapshots/component_generator/helper_functions.expected.yaml
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ implementation:
     - |
       program_path=$(mktemp)
       printf "%s" "$0" > "$program_path"
-      python3 -u "$program_path" "$@"
+      exec python3 -u "$program_path" "$@"
     - |
       def _serialize_str(str_value) -> str:
           if isinstance(str_value, str):
diff --git a/tests/test_component_worker_process.py b/tests/test_component_worker_process.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..687514b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_component_worker_process.py
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+"""Execute generated entrypoints, including their shells, without a container."""
+
+import os
+import shlex
+import signal
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import textwrap
+import time
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+import yaml
+
+from tangle_cli.component_from_func import generate_component_yaml
+
+
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.skipif(
+    os.name != "posix", reason="Generated workers use POSIX shells"
+)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(params=["inline", "bundle", "bundle-bz2"])
+def worker(request, tmp_path):
+    source = tmp_path / "worker.py"
+    source.write_text(
+        textwrap.dedent("""\
+        def worker(action: str, value: str, ready: str, cleanup: str):
+            import os
+            import signal
+            import sys
+            import time
+            from pathlib import Path
+
+            def stop(signum, frame):
+                raise SystemExit(128 + signum)
+
+            signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, stop)
+            signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, stop)
+            try:
+                print(value, flush=True)
+                print("worker stderr", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)
+                Path(ready).write_text(str(os.getpid()))
+                if action == "wait":
+                    while True:
+                        time.sleep(0.05)
+                if action == "fail":
+                    raise SystemExit(7)
+            finally:
+                Path(cleanup).write_text(value)
+        """)
+    )
+    return source, request.param
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(params=[False, True], ids=["no-dependencies", "dependencies"])
+def entrypoint(request, worker, tmp_path):
+    source, mode = worker
+    dependencies = tmp_path / "pyproject.toml"
+    dependencies.write_text(
+        '[project]\nname = "test-worker"\ndependencies = ["test-dependency"]\n'
+    )
+    output = tmp_path / "component.yaml"
+    assert generate_component_yaml(
+        source,
+        output,
+        container_image="python:3.12",
+        function_name="worker",
+        mode=mode,
+        dependencies_from=dependencies if request.param else None,
+    )
+    command = yaml.safe_load(output.read_text())["implementation"]["container"][
+        "command"
+    ]
+    # Only stub pip's network/install step. All generated shells and the worker
+    # itself run as real processes; use this test environment's Python.
+    bin_dir = tmp_path / "bin"
+    bin_dir.mkdir()
+    python = bin_dir / "python3"
+    python.write_text(
+        "#!/bin/sh\n"
+        'if [ "$1" = "-m" ] && [ "$2" = "pip" ]; then\n'
+        '  printf "pip install\\n" >> "$PIP_CALLS"\n'
+        "  exit 0\n"
+        "fi\n"
+        f'exec {shlex.quote(sys.executable)} "$@"\n'
+    )
+    python.chmod(0o755)
+    env = dict(
+        os.environ,
+        PATH=f"{bin_dir}{os.pathsep}{os.environ['PATH']}",
+        TMPDIR=str(tmp_path),
+        PIP_CALLS=str(tmp_path / "pip-calls"),
+    )
+    return command, env, request.param
+
+
+def _wait_for_file(path: Path, process: subprocess.Popen, timeout: float = 5):
+    deadline = time.monotonic() + timeout
+    while time.monotonic() < deadline:
+        if path.exists() and path.read_text():
+            return
+        assert process.poll() is None, (
+            f"Worker exited before readiness: {process.returncode}"
+        )
+        time.sleep(0.01)
+    pytest.fail("Worker did not become ready before the deadline")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("action", ["success", "fail", "wait"])
+def test_generated_worker_lifecycle(entrypoint, action, tmp_path):
+    command, env, has_dependencies = entrypoint
+    value = "spaces 'quotes' $dollar ; literal\nsecond line"
+    ready, cleanup = tmp_path / "ready", tmp_path / "cleanup"
+    args = [
+        "--action",
+        action,
+        "--value",
+        value,
+        "--ready",
+        str(ready),
+        "--cleanup",
+        str(cleanup),
+    ]
+    stdout, stderr = tmp_path / "stdout", tmp_path / "stderr"
+    with stdout.open("w") as out, stderr.open("w") as err:
+        process = subprocess.Popen(
+            command + args, env=env, stdout=out, stderr=err, start_new_session=True
+        )
+        try:
+            if action == "wait":
+                _wait_for_file(ready, process)
+                # Mimic a container runtime: signal ONLY the entrypoint PID,
+                # not the process group (which would hide a non-exec wrapper).
+                process.send_signal(signal.SIGTERM)
+            returncode = process.wait(timeout=10)
+            assert cleanup.exists(), "SIGTERM did not reach the Python cleanup handler"
+            assert cleanup.read_text() == value
+            assert (
+                returncode
+                == {"success": 0, "fail": 7, "wait": 128 + signal.SIGTERM}[action]
+            )
+            assert stdout.read_text() == value + "\n"
+            assert stderr.read_text() == "worker stderr\n"
+            assert (tmp_path / "pip-calls").exists() == has_dependencies
+            if action == "wait":
+                assert int(ready.read_text()) == process.pid
+        finally:
+            # Also reap an orphan worker on the red-before path or any timeout.
+            # A separate session keeps cleanup from touching the test runner.
+            try:
+                os.killpg(process.pid, signal.SIGKILL)
+            except ProcessLookupError:
+                pass
+            process.wait(timeout=5)