diff --git a/crates/nu-command/src/system/run_external.rs b/crates/nu-command/src/system/run_external.rs
index 013d3d8374..32543716f1 100644
--- a/crates/nu-command/src/system/run_external.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-command/src/system/run_external.rs
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ pub fn command_not_found(
     if Path::new(name).is_file() {
         return ShellError::ExternalCommand {
                         label: format!("Command `{name}` not found"),
-                        help: format!("`{name}` refers to a file that is not executable. Did you forget to to set execute permissions?"),
+                        help: format!("`{name}` refers to a file that is not executable. Did you forget to set execute permissions?"),
                         span,
                     };
     }
diff --git a/crates/nu-protocol/src/config/hooks.rs b/crates/nu-protocol/src/config/hooks.rs
index 9b9860a87d..374b3818d6 100644
--- a/crates/nu-protocol/src/config/hooks.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-protocol/src/config/hooks.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use super::prelude::*;
 use crate as nu_protocol;
+use crate::Record;
 
 /// Definition of a parsed hook from the config object
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, IntoValue, PartialEq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
@@ -14,14 +15,14 @@ pub struct Hooks {
 impl Hooks {
     pub fn new() -> Self {
         Self {
-            pre_prompt: None,
-            pre_execution: None,
-            env_change: None,
+            pre_prompt: Some(Value::list(vec![], Span::unknown())),
+            pre_execution: Some(Value::list(vec![], Span::unknown())),
+            env_change: Some(Value::record(Record::default(), Span::unknown())),
             display_output: Some(Value::string(
                 "if (term size).columns >= 100 { table -e } else { table }",
                 Span::unknown(),
             )),
-            command_not_found: None,
+            command_not_found: Some(Value::list(vec![], Span::unknown())),
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/shell/pipeline/commands/external.rs b/tests/shell/pipeline/commands/external.rs
index 207a94766b..172ac8cbfc 100644
--- a/tests/shell/pipeline/commands/external.rs
+++ b/tests/shell/pipeline/commands/external.rs
@@ -131,9 +131,9 @@ fn command_not_found_error_suggests_typo_fix() {
 #[test]
 fn command_not_found_error_recognizes_non_executable_file() {
     let actual = nu!("./Cargo.toml");
-    assert!(actual
-        .err
-        .contains("is neither a Nushell built-in or a known external command"));
+    assert!(actual.err.contains(
+        "refers to a file that is not executable. Did you forget to set execute permissions?"
+    ));
 }
 
 #[test]