diff --git a/git-cvsimport.perl b/git-cvsimport.perl
index 24f9834342..b46469ab32 100755
--- a/git-cvsimport.perl
+++ b/git-cvsimport.perl
@@ -846,8 +846,12 @@ while(<CVS>) {
 			print "Drop $fn\n" if $opt_v;
 		} else {
 			print "".($init ? "New" : "Update")." $fn: $size bytes\n" if $opt_v;
-			open my $F, '-|', "git-hash-object -w $tmpname"
+			my $pid = open(my $F, '-|');
+			die $! unless defined $pid;
+			if (!$pid) {
+			    exec("git-hash-object", "-w", $tmpname)
 				or die "Cannot create object: $!\n";
+			}
 			my $sha = <$F>;
 			chomp $sha;
 			close $F;
diff --git a/git-fmt-merge-msg.perl b/git-fmt-merge-msg.perl
index c34ddc5d5e..a77e94eb5a 100755
--- a/git-fmt-merge-msg.perl
+++ b/git-fmt-merge-msg.perl
@@ -28,11 +28,12 @@ sub andjoin {
 }
 
 sub repoconfig {
-	my $fh;
 	my $val;
 	eval {
-		open $fh, '-|', 'git-repo-config', '--get', 'merge.summary'
-		    or die "$!";
+		my $pid = open(my $fh, '-|');
+		if (!$pid) {
+			exec('git-repo-config', '--get', 'merge.summary');
+		}
 		($val) = <$fh>;
 		close $fh;
 	};
@@ -41,25 +42,32 @@ sub repoconfig {
 
 sub current_branch {
 	my $fh;
-	open $fh, '-|', 'git-symbolic-ref', 'HEAD' or die "$!";
+	my $pid = open($fh, '-|');
+	die "$!" unless defined $pid;
+	if (!$pid) {
+	    exec('git-symbolic-ref', 'HEAD') or die "$!";
+	}
 	my ($bra) = <$fh>;
 	chomp($bra);
+	close $fh or die "$!";
 	$bra =~ s|^refs/heads/||;
 	if ($bra ne 'master') {
 		$bra = " into $bra";
 	} else {
 		$bra = "";
 	}
-
 	return $bra;
 }
 
 sub shortlog {
 	my ($tip, $limit) = @_;
 	my ($fh, @result);
-	open $fh, '-|', ('git-log', "--max-count=$limit", '--topo-order',
-			 '--pretty=oneline', $tip, '^HEAD')
-	    or die "$!";
+	my $pid = open($fh, '-|');
+	die "$!" unless defined $pid;
+	if (!$pid) {
+	    exec('git-log', "--max-count=$limit", '--topo-order',
+		 '--pretty=oneline', $tip, '^HEAD') or die "$!";
+	}
 	while (<$fh>) {
 		s/^[0-9a-f]{40}\s+//;
 		push @result, $_;
diff --git a/git-rerere.perl b/git-rerere.perl
index df119517fe..d3664ff491 100755
--- a/git-rerere.perl
+++ b/git-rerere.perl
@@ -131,7 +131,11 @@ sub record_preimage {
 sub find_conflict {
 	my $in;
 	local $/ = "\0";
-	open $in, '-|', qw(git ls-files -z -u) or die "$!: ls-files";
+	my $pid = open($in, '-|');
+	die "$!" unless defined $pid;
+	if (!$pid) {
+		exec(qw(git ls-files -z -u)) or die "$!: ls-files";
+	}
 	my %path = ();
 	my @path = ();
 	while (<$in>) {
diff --git a/git-send-email.perl b/git-send-email.perl
index 13b85dddd1..b0d095b4e9 100755
--- a/git-send-email.perl
+++ b/git-send-email.perl
@@ -59,24 +59,29 @@ my $rc = GetOptions("from=s" => \$from,
 
 # Now, let's fill any that aren't set in with defaults:
 
-open(GITVAR,"-|","git-var","-l")
-	or die "Failed to open pipe from git-var: $!";
-
-my ($author,$committer);
-while(<GITVAR>) {
-	chomp;
-	my ($var,$data) = split /=/,$_,2;
-	my @fields = split /\s+/, $data;
-
-	my $ident = join(" ", @fields[0...(@fields-3)]);
-
-	if ($var eq 'GIT_AUTHOR_IDENT') {
-		$author = $ident;
-	} elsif ($var eq 'GIT_COMMITTER_IDENT') {
-		$committer = $ident;
-	}
+sub gitvar {
+    my ($var) = @_;
+    my $fh;
+    my $pid = open($fh, '-|');
+    die "$!" unless defined $pid;
+    if (!$pid) {
+	exec('git-var', $var) or die "$!";
+    }
+    my ($val) = <$fh>;
+    close $fh or die "$!";
+    chomp($val);
+    return $val;
 }
-close(GITVAR);
+
+sub gitvar_ident {
+    my ($name) = @_;
+    my $val = gitvar($name);
+    my @field = split(/\s+/, $val);
+    return join(' ', @field[0...(@field-3)]);
+}
+
+my ($author) = gitvar_ident('GIT_AUTHOR_IDENT');
+my ($committer) = gitvar_ident('GIT_COMMITTER_IDENT');
 
 my $prompting = 0;
 if (!defined $from) {
diff --git a/git-svnimport.perl b/git-svnimport.perl
index c536d7026d..ee2940f480 100755
--- a/git-svnimport.perl
+++ b/git-svnimport.perl
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 # The head revision is on branch "origin" by default.
 # You can change that with the '-o' option.
 
-require 5.008; # for shell-safe open("-|",LIST)
 use strict;
 use warnings;
 use Getopt::Std;
@@ -322,8 +321,12 @@ sub get_file($$$) {
 		return undef unless defined $name;
 	}
 
-	open my $F, '-|', "git-hash-object", "-w", $name
+	my $pid = open(my $F, '-|');
+	die $! unless defined $pid;
+	if (!$pid) {
+	    exec("git-hash-object", "-w", $name)
 		or die "Cannot create object: $!\n";
+	}
 	my $sha = <$F>;
 	chomp $sha;
 	close $F;
@@ -398,7 +401,12 @@ sub copy_path($$$$$$$$) {
 			$srcpath =~ s#/*$#/#;
 	}
 	
-	open my $f,"-|","git-ls-tree","-r","-z",$gitrev,$srcpath;
+	my $pid = open my $f,'-|';
+	die $! unless defined $pid;
+	if (!$pid) {
+		exec("git-ls-tree","-r","-z",$gitrev,$srcpath)
+			or die $!;
+	}
 	local $/ = "\0";
 	while(<$f>) {
 		chomp;
@@ -554,7 +562,11 @@ sub commit {
 				@o1 = @old;
 				@old = ();
 			}
-			open my $F, "-|", "git-ls-files", "-z", @o1 or die $!;
+			my $pid = open my $F, "-|";
+			die "$!" unless defined $pid;
+			if (!$pid) {
+				exec("git-ls-files", "-z", @o1) or die $!;
+			}
 			@o1 = ();
 			local $/ = "\0";
 			while(<$F>) {