diff --git a/vcsh b/vcsh
index 418f78a72fa8309e89837cba1b4e8dcc25bd26bc..b0bf758749585cc104aa8239e52b1c80a81674b0 100755
--- a/vcsh
+++ b/vcsh
@@ -397,7 +397,7 @@ write_gitignore() {
 		fatal "could not move '$tempfile' to '$VCSH_BASE/.gitignore.d/$VCSH_REPO_NAME'" 53
 }
 
-debug `git version`
+debug $(git version)
 
 if [ ! "x$VCSH_GITIGNORE" = 'xexact' ] && [ ! "x$VCSH_GITIGNORE" = 'xnone' ] && [ ! "x$VCSH_GITIGNORE" = 'xrecursive' ]; then
 	fatal "'\$VCSH_GITIGNORE' must equal 'exact', 'none', or 'recursive'" 1