Emotion regulation is critical for adaptive behavior, yet its relationship with executive functions remains poorly understood. Despite growing interest, comprehensive reviews and meta-analyses addressing this link are limited. Here, we present convergent evidence from two laboratory studies (N = 199, M_Age = 24.8 years; N = 115, M_Age = 23.3 years) and a meta-analysis of 196 studies (N = 20,181, M_Age= 26.9 years) to examine the association between individual differences in emotion regulation ability and frequency (reappraisal, acceptance, suppression, rumination, and worry) and executive functions (inhibition, working memory updating, and set-shifting). Latent-variable modeling of the laboratory data identified the strongest associations between reappraisal ability and working memory updating (r = 0.15, 95% CI: 0.03–0.33). Consistent with these findings, the meta-analysis revealed a similar pattern, with reappraisal ability demonstrating the strongest link to working memory updating (r = 0.20, 95% CI: 0.07–0.33). Notably, no substantial relationships emerged between executive functions and the habitual use of emotion regulation strategies, challenging conventional assumptions about their interplay. Instead, these findings suggest a more nuanced relationship, where the ability to implement specific strategies, such as reappraisal, aligns with distinct executive functions like working memory updating. This research refines our understanding of the cognitive underpinnings of emotion regulation and underscores the need for alternative conceptual frameworks, such as emotion regulation flexibility, to better capture the dynamic and context-dependent roles of executive functions in emotion regulation.