diff --git a/src/common/helpers.py b/src/common/helpers.py
index 732c0be81..178b51302 100644
--- a/src/common/helpers.py
+++ b/src/common/helpers.py
@@ -722,10 +722,11 @@ def get_os_info():
 		full_path_to_executable = is_in_path(executable, return_abs_path = True)
 		if full_path_to_executable:
 			command = executable + params
-			p = Popen([command], shell=True, stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
-				stdout=subprocess.PIPE, close_fds=True)
-			p.wait()
-			output = temp_failure_retry(p.stdout.readline).strip()
+			child_stdin, child_stdout = os.popen2(command)
+			output = temp_failure_retry(child_stdout.readline).strip()
+			child_stdout.close()
+			child_stdin.close()
+			os.wait()
 			# some distros put n/a in places, so remove those
 			output = output.replace('n/a', '').replace('N/A', '')
 			return output