diff --git a/gui/Scyther/Misc.py b/gui/Scyther/Misc.py
index e3958a9..6e07098 100644
--- a/gui/Scyther/Misc.py
+++ b/gui/Scyther/Misc.py
@@ -93,21 +93,19 @@ def getShell():
     """
     Determine if we want a shell for Popen
     """
-    if sys.platform.startswith("win"):
-        shell=False
-    else:
-        # Needed to handle the string input correctly (as opposed to a sequence where the first element is the executable)
-        # This is not needed on Windows, where it has a different effect altogether.
-        # See http://docs.python.org/library/subprocess.html?highlight=subprocess#module-subprocess
-        shell=True
-    return shell
+    return False
 
 def safeCommandOutput(cmd, storePopen=None):
     """ Execute a command and return (sts,sout,serr).
     Meant for short outputs, as output is stored in memory and
     not written to a file.
     """
-    p = Popen(cmd, shell=getShell(), stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE)
+
+    if isinstance(cmd, str):
+        import shlex
+        cmd = shlex.split(cmd)
+
+    p = Popen(cmd, stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE)
     if storePopen != None:
         storePopen(p)
     (sout,serr) = p.communicate()
@@ -119,7 +117,11 @@ def safeCommand(cmd, storePopen=None):
     version, I hope. """
 
     try:
-        p = Popen(cmd, shell=getShell())
+        if isinstance(cmd, str):
+            import shlex
+            cmd = shlex.split(cmd)
+
+        p = Popen(cmd)
         if storePopen != None:
             storePopen(p)
         sts = p.wait()