diff --git a/lib/git-smart/git_repo.rb b/lib/git-smart/git_repo.rb
index 7df60c8..ec2f2db 100644
--- a/lib/git-smart/git_repo.rb
+++ b/lib/git-smart/git_repo.rb
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ def merge_base(ref_a, ref_b)
   end
 
   def exists?(ref)
-    git('rev-parse', ref)
-    $?.success?
+    output, successful = exec_git('rev-parse', ref)
+    successful
   end
 
   def rev_list(ref_a, ref_b)
@@ -137,15 +137,15 @@ def merge_no_ff!(target)
   # helper methods, left public in case other commands want to use them directly
 
   def git(*args)
-    output = exec_git(*args)
-    $?.success? ? output : ''
+    output, successful = exec_git(*args)
+    successful ? output : ''
   end
 
   def git!(*args)
     puts "Executing: #{['git', *args].join(" ")}"
-    output = exec_git(*args)
+    output, successful = exec_git(*args)
     to_display = output.split("\n").map { |l| "  #{l}" }.join("\n")
-    $?.success? ? puts(to_display) : raise(GitSmart::UnexpectedOutput.new(to_display))
+    successful ? puts(to_display) : raise(GitSmart::UnexpectedOutput.new(to_display))
     output
   end
 
@@ -164,9 +164,10 @@ def config(name)
   private
 
   def exec_git(*args)
-    return if @dir.empty?
+    return '', false if @dir.empty?
     Dir.chdir(@dir) {
-      SafeShell.execute('git', *args)
+      output, exit_status = SafeShell.execute('git', *args)
+      return output, exit_status.success?
     }
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/git-smart/safe_shell.rb b/lib/git-smart/safe_shell.rb
index cd6d314..df168a1 100644
--- a/lib/git-smart/safe_shell.rb
+++ b/lib/git-smart/safe_shell.rb
@@ -1,21 +1,21 @@
+require 'open3'
+
 module SafeShell
   def self.execute(command, *args)
-    read_end, write_end = IO.pipe
-    pid = fork do
-      read_end.close
-      STDOUT.reopen(write_end)
-      STDERR.reopen(write_end)
-      exec(command, *args)
+    cmd = [].push(command).push(args).join(' ')
+    result = ""
+    exit_status = nil
+
+    Open3.popen2e (cmd) do |stdin, out, wait_thr|
+      exit_status = wait_thr.value
+      result = out.read
     end
-    write_end.close
-    output = read_end.read
-    Process.waitpid(pid)
-    read_end.close
-    output
+
+    return result, exit_status
   end
 
   def self.execute?(*args)
-    execute(*args)
-    $?.success?
+    output, exit_status = execute(*args)
+    exit_status.success?
   end
 end