diff --git a/lib/backup/database.rb b/lib/backup/database.rb
index 6ada5bb4ea2..c4fb2e2e159 100644
--- a/lib/backup/database.rb
+++ b/lib/backup/database.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 require 'yaml'
-require 'shellwords'
 
 module Backup
   class Database
@@ -14,20 +13,20 @@ module Backup
     def dump
       case config["adapter"]
       when /^mysql/ then
-        system("mysqldump #{mysql_args} #{Shellwords.shellescape(config['database'])} > #{Shellwords.shellescape(db_file_name)}")
+        system("mysqldump #{mysql_args} #{config['database']} > #{db_file_name}")
       when "postgresql" then
         pg_env
-        system("pg_dump #{Shellwords.shellescape(config['database'])} > #{db_file_name}")
+        system("pg_dump #{config['database']} > #{db_file_name}")
       end
     end
 
     def restore
       case config["adapter"]
       when /^mysql/ then
-        system("mysql #{mysql_args} #{Shellwords.shellescape(config['database'])} < #{db_file_name}")
+        system("mysql #{mysql_args} #{config['database']} < #{db_file_name}")
       when "postgresql" then
         pg_env
-        system("psql #{Shellwords.shellescape(config['database'])} -f #{Shellwords.shellescape(db_file_name)}")
+        system("psql #{config['database']} -f #{db_file_name}")
       end
     end
 
@@ -46,7 +45,7 @@ module Backup
         'encoding'  => '--default-character-set',
         'password'  => '--password'
       }
-      args.map { |opt, arg| "#{arg}=#{Shellwords.shellescape(config[opt])}" if config[opt] }.compact.join(' ')
+      args.map { |opt, arg| "#{arg}='#{config[opt]}'" if config[opt] }.compact.join(' ')
     end
 
     def pg_env
diff --git a/lib/backup/repository.rb b/lib/backup/repository.rb
index 3649ff99d24..252201f11be 100644
--- a/lib/backup/repository.rb
+++ b/lib/backup/repository.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 require 'yaml'
-require 'shellwords'
 
 module Backup
   class Repository
@@ -19,7 +18,7 @@ module Backup
         # Create namespace dir if missing
         FileUtils.mkdir_p(File.join(backup_repos_path, project.namespace.path)) if project.namespace
 
-        if system("cd #{Shellwords.shellescape(path_to_repo(project))} > /dev/null 2>&1 && git bundle create #{Shellwords.shellescape(path_to_bundle(project))} --all > /dev/null 2>&1")
+        if system("cd #{path_to_repo(project)} > /dev/null 2>&1 && git bundle create #{path_to_bundle(project)} --all > /dev/null 2>&1")
           puts "[DONE]".green
         else
           puts "[FAILED]".red
@@ -31,7 +30,7 @@ module Backup
           print " * #{wiki.path_with_namespace} ... "
           if wiki.empty?
             puts " [SKIPPED]".cyan
-          elsif system("cd #{Shellwords.shellescape(path_to_repo(wiki))} > /dev/null 2>&1 && git bundle create #{Shellwords.shellescape(path_to_bundle(wiki))} --all > /dev/null 2>&1")
+          elsif system("cd #{path_to_repo(wiki)} > /dev/null 2>&1 && git bundle create #{path_to_bundle(wiki)} --all > /dev/null 2>&1")
             puts " [DONE]".green
           else
             puts " [FAILED]".red
@@ -54,7 +53,7 @@ module Backup
 
         project.namespace.ensure_dir_exist if project.namespace
 
-        if system("git clone --bare #{Shellwords.shellescape(path_to_bundle(project))} #{Shellwords.shellescape(path_to_repo(project))} > /dev/null 2>&1")
+        if system("git clone --bare #{path_to_bundle(project)} #{path_to_repo(project)} > /dev/null 2>&1")
           puts "[DONE]".green
         else
           puts "[FAILED]".red
@@ -64,7 +63,7 @@ module Backup
 
         if File.exists?(path_to_bundle(wiki))
           print " * #{wiki.path_with_namespace} ... "
-          if system("git clone --bare #{Shellwords.shellescape(path_to_bundle(wiki))} #{Shellwords.shellescape(path_to_repo(wiki))} > /dev/null 2>&1")
+          if system("git clone --bare #{path_to_bundle(wiki)} #{path_to_repo(wiki)} > /dev/null 2>&1")
             puts " [DONE]".green
           else
             puts " [FAILED]".red
diff --git a/spec/models/gollum_wiki_spec.rb b/spec/models/gollum_wiki_spec.rb
index de786478de9..9e07d9ee191 100644
--- a/spec/models/gollum_wiki_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/gollum_wiki_spec.rb
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 require "spec_helper"
-require "shellwords"
 
 describe GollumWiki do
 
   def create_temp_repo(path)
     FileUtils.mkdir_p path
-    system("git init --quiet #{Shellwords.shellescape(path)}")
+    command = "git init --quiet #{path};"
+    system(command)
   end
 
   def remove_temp_repo(path)
diff --git a/spec/models/wiki_page_spec.rb b/spec/models/wiki_page_spec.rb
index b9883342c3a..67f2a6da42d 100644
--- a/spec/models/wiki_page_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/wiki_page_spec.rb
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 require "spec_helper"
-require "shellwords"
 
 describe WikiPage do
 
   def create_temp_repo(path)
     FileUtils.mkdir_p path
-    system("git init --quiet #{Shellwords.shellescape(path)}")
+    command = "git init --quiet #{path};"
+    system(command)
   end
 
   def remove_temp_repo(path)
diff --git a/spec/support/test_env.rb b/spec/support/test_env.rb
index 5c6f96abc1b..16e10b1a62b 100644
--- a/spec/support/test_env.rb
+++ b/spec/support/test_env.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 require 'rspec/mocks'
-require 'shellwords'
 
 module TestEnv
   extend self
@@ -103,7 +102,7 @@ module TestEnv
     repo = repo(namespace, name)
 
     # Symlink tmp/repositories/gitlabhq to tmp/test-git-base-path/gitlabhq
-    system("ln -s -f #{Shellwords.shellescape(seed_repo_path())} #{Shellwords.shellescape(repo)}")
+    system("ln -s -f #{seed_repo_path()} #{repo}")
     create_satellite(repo, namespace, name)
   end
 
@@ -167,11 +166,12 @@ module TestEnv
     # Symlink tmp/satellite/gitlabhq to tmp/test-git-base-path/satellite/gitlabhq, create the directory if it doesn't exist already
     satellite_dir = File.dirname(satellite_repo)
     FileUtils.mkdir_p(satellite_dir) unless File.exists?(satellite_dir)
-    system("ln -s -f #{Shellwords.shellescape(seed_satellite_path)} #{Shellwords.shellescape(satellite_repo)}")
+    system("ln -s -f #{seed_satellite_path} #{satellite_repo}")
   end
 
   def create_temp_repo(path)
     FileUtils.mkdir_p path
-    system("git init --quiet --bare #{Shellwords.shellescape(path)}")
+    command = "git init --quiet --bare #{path};"
+    system(command)
   end
 end