diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 94db66b6db..ce9fd132d2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -53,6 +53,11 @@ Fixed
 
 * StackStorm now explicitly decodes pack files as utf-8 instead of implicitly as ascii (bug fix) #5106, #5107
 
+* Fix broken ``st2 action-alias execute`` command and make sure it works
+  correctly. (bug fix) #5138
+
+  Contributed by @Kami.
+
 Removed
 ~~~~~~~~
 * Removed --python3 pack install option  #5100
diff --git a/st2api/tests/unit/controllers/v1/test_action_alias.py b/st2api/tests/unit/controllers/v1/test_action_alias.py
index e9cdf0c52e..b507c2a161 100644
--- a/st2api/tests/unit/controllers/v1/test_action_alias.py
+++ b/st2api/tests/unit/controllers/v1/test_action_alias.py
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@
 FIXTURES_PACK = 'aliases'
 
 TEST_MODELS = {
-    'aliases': ['alias1.yaml', 'alias2.yaml', 'alias_with_undefined_jinja_in_ack_format.yaml']
+    'aliases': ['alias1.yaml', 'alias2.yaml', 'alias_with_undefined_jinja_in_ack_format.yaml'],
+    'actions': ['action1.yaml'],
 }
 
 TEST_LOAD_MODELS = {
@@ -34,7 +35,8 @@
 GENERIC_FIXTURES_PACK = 'generic'
 
 TEST_LOAD_MODELS_GENERIC = {
-    'aliases': ['alias3.yaml']
+    'aliases': ['alias3.yaml'],
+    'runners': ['testrunner1.yaml']
 }
 
 
@@ -180,6 +182,18 @@ def test_match(self):
         self.assertEqual(resp.json['actionalias']['name'],
                          'alias_with_undefined_jinja_in_ack_format')
 
+    def test_match_and_execute_success(self):
+        data = {
+            'command': 'run whoami on localhost1',
+            'source_channel': 'hubot',
+            'user': "user",
+        }
+        resp = self.app.post_json("/v1/aliasexecution/match_and_execute", data)
+        self.assertEqual(resp.status_int, 201)
+        self.assertEqual(len(resp.json["results"]), 1)
+        self.assertTrue(resp.json["results"][0]["actionalias"]["ref"],
+                        "aliases.alias_with_undefined_jinja_in_ack_format")
+
     def test_help(self):
         resp = self.app.get("/v1/actionalias/help")
         self.assertEqual(resp.status_int, 200)
diff --git a/st2client/st2client/commands/action_alias.py b/st2client/st2client/commands/action_alias.py
index a9a15e7bed..32a65776cc 100644
--- a/st2client/st2client/commands/action_alias.py
+++ b/st2client/st2client/commands/action_alias.py
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ def __init__(self, resource, *args, **kwargs):
     def run(self, args, **kwargs):
         payload = core.Resource()
         payload.command = args.command_text
-        payload.user = args.user
+        payload.user = args.user or ""
         payload.source_channel = 'cli'
 
         alias_execution_mgr = self.app.client.managers['ActionAliasExecution']
diff --git a/st2client/st2client/models/core.py b/st2client/st2client/models/core.py
index d102d3158f..255c91534f 100644
--- a/st2client/st2client/models/core.py
+++ b/st2client/st2client/models/core.py
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@ def match_and_execute(self, instance, **kwargs):
 
         if response.status_code != http_client.OK:
             self.handle_error(response)
-        instance = self.resource.deserialize(response.json())
+        instance = self.resource.deserialize(response.json()["results"][0])
         return instance
 
 
diff --git a/st2client/tests/base.py b/st2client/tests/base.py
index d0e7b2253d..307f00f74b 100644
--- a/st2client/tests/base.py
+++ b/st2client/tests/base.py
@@ -109,6 +109,20 @@ def tearDown(self):
             sys.stdout = sys.__stdout__
             sys.stderr = sys.__stderr__
 
+        # On failure, we also print values of accumulated stdout and stderr
+        # to make troubleshooting easier
+        # TODO: nosetests specific make sure to update when / if switching to pytest
+        errors = getattr(self.__dict__.get("_outcome", None), "errors", [])
+
+        if len(errors) >= 1:
+            stdout = self.stdout.getvalue()
+            stderr = self.stderr.getvalue()
+
+            print("")
+            print("Captured stdout: %s" % (stdout))
+            print("Captured stdoerr: %s" % (stderr))
+            print("")
+
     def _reset_output_streams(self):
         """
         Reset / clear stdout and stderr stream.
diff --git a/st2client/tests/unit/test_action_alias.py b/st2client/tests/unit/test_action_alias.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a360fd5139
--- /dev/null
+++ b/st2client/tests/unit/test_action_alias.py
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+# Copyright 2020 The StackStorm Authors.
+# Copyright 2019 Extreme Networks, Inc.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+
+import json
+import mock
+
+from tests import base
+
+from st2client import shell
+from st2client.utils import httpclient
+
+MOCK_MATCH_AND_EXECUTE_RESULT = {
+    "results": [
+        {
+            "execution": {
+                "id": "mock-id",
+            },
+            "actionalias": {
+                "ref": "mock-ref"
+            }
+        }
+    ]
+}
+
+
+class ActionAliasCommandTestCase(base.BaseCLITestCase):
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super(ActionAliasCommandTestCase, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.shell = shell.Shell()
+
+    @mock.patch.object(
+        httpclient.HTTPClient, 'post',
+        mock.MagicMock(return_value=base.FakeResponse(json.dumps(MOCK_MATCH_AND_EXECUTE_RESULT),
+                                                      200, 'OK')))
+    def test_match_and_execute(self):
+        ret = self.shell.run(['action-alias', 'execute', "run whoami on localhost"])
+        self.assertEqual(ret, 0)
+
+        expected_args = {
+            'command': 'run whoami on localhost',
+            'user': '',
+            'source_channel': 'cli'
+        }
+        httpclient.HTTPClient.post.assert_called_with('/aliasexecution/match_and_execute',
+                                                      expected_args)
+
+        mock_stdout = self.stdout.getvalue()
+
+        self.assertTrue("Matching Action-alias: 'mock-ref'" in mock_stdout)
+        self.assertTrue("st2 execution get mock-id" in mock_stdout)
diff --git a/st2tests/st2tests/fixtures/aliases/actions/action1.yaml b/st2tests/st2tests/fixtures/aliases/actions/action1.yaml
index c9be03ce3d..7a0d9c7bdf 100644
--- a/st2tests/st2tests/fixtures/aliases/actions/action1.yaml
+++ b/st2tests/st2tests/fixtures/aliases/actions/action1.yaml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
     name: "action1"
     description: ""
-    runner_type: "test-runner"
+    runner_type: "noop"
     pack: "wolfpack"
     entry_point: "/tmp/test/action1.sh"
     enabled: true
@@ -15,3 +15,7 @@
         param4:
             type: "string"
             secret: true
+        hosts:
+          type: "string"
+        cmd:
+          type: "string"