diff --git a/common/util.c b/common/util.c
index 4a0d6f64b..f00d76148 100644
--- a/common/util.c
+++ b/common/util.c
@@ -194,21 +194,12 @@ a_strcpy(char *dst, ssize_t n, const char *src)
 void
 a_exec(const char *cmd)
 {
-    char *args, *path;
+    static const char *shell = NULL;
 
-    /* Ignore the leading spaces if any */
-    while(cmd[0] && cmd[0] == ' ') cmd++;
+    if(!shell && !(shell = getenv("SHELL")))
+        shell = "/bin/sh";
 
-    /* Get the beginning of the arguments */
-    args = strchr(cmd, ' ');
-    if(args)
-        path = a_strndup(cmd, args - cmd);
-    else
-        path = a_strndup(cmd, a_strlen(cmd));
-
-    execlp(path, cmd, NULL);
-
-    p_delete(&path);
+    execl(shell, shell, "-c", cmd, NULL);
 }
 
 /** Split a string in substring.
diff --git a/lua.c b/lua.c
index 8fc6ab65b..0e49393a6 100644
--- a/lua.c
+++ b/lua.c
@@ -478,14 +478,10 @@ luaA_otable_newindex(lua_State *L)
 static int
 luaA_spawn(lua_State *L)
 {
-    static const char *shell = NULL;
     char *host, newdisplay[128];
     const char *cmd;
     int screen = 0, screenp, displayp;
 
-    if(!shell && !(shell = getenv("SHELL")))
-        shell = "/bin/sh";
-
     if(lua_gettop(L) == 2)
     {
         screen = luaL_checknumber(L, 2) - 1;
@@ -511,8 +507,8 @@ luaA_spawn(lua_State *L)
             if(globalconf.connection)
                 xcb_disconnect(globalconf.connection);
             setsid();
-            execl(shell, shell, "-c", cmd, NULL);
-            warn("execl '%s -c %s' failed: %s\n", shell, cmd, strerror(errno));
+            a_exec(cmd);
+            warn("execl '%s' failed: %s\n", cmd, strerror(errno));
         }
         exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
     }