diff --git a/scripts/xdg-terminal b/scripts/xdg-terminal
index ab7dec7..b464f5c 100755
--- a/scripts/xdg-terminal
+++ b/scripts/xdg-terminal
@@ -395,22 +395,12 @@ terminal_xfce()
 
 terminal_generic()
 {
-    # if $TERM is not set, try xterm
-    if [ x"$TERM" == x"" ]; then
-        TERM=xterm
-    fi
-
-    terminal_exec=`which $TERM >/dev/null 2>/dev/null`
+    terminal_exec=`which $TERM 2>/dev/null`
 
-    if [ -x "$terminal_exec" ]; then
-        if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
-            exit_success
-        else
-            exit_failure_operation_failed
-        fi
-    else
-        exit_failure_operation_impossible "configured terminal program '$TERM' not found or not executable"
+    if [ ! -x "$terminal_exec" ]; then
+	terminal_exec=xterm
     fi
+    exec $terminal_exec 
 }
 
 terminal_lxde()