diff --git a/libmamba/src/core/activation.cpp b/libmamba/src/core/activation.cpp
index da261b0926..afc6b4abb0 100644
--- a/libmamba/src/core/activation.cpp
+++ b/libmamba/src/core/activation.cpp
@@ -709,7 +709,15 @@ namespace mamba
         auto has_prefix = util::get_env("CONDA_PREFIX");
         if (m_context.auto_activate_base && !has_prefix.has_value())
         {
-            builder << get_self_exe_path().stem() << " activate base\n";
+            // use invocation operator to run commands represented by strings
+            if (is_powershell(this))
+            {
+                builder << "& " << get_self_exe_path().stem() << " activate base\n";
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                builder << get_self_exe_path().stem() << " activate base\n";
+            }
         }
         builder << hook_postamble() << "\n";
         return builder.str();