diff --git a/lib/bb/fetch2/git.py b/lib/bb/fetch2/git.py
index c7ff769fd..602914460 100644
--- a/lib/bb/fetch2/git.py
+++ b/lib/bb/fetch2/git.py
@@ -926,9 +926,8 @@ class Git(FetchMethod):
             commits = None
         else:
             if not os.path.exists(rev_file) or not os.path.getsize(rev_file):
-                from pipes import quote
                 commits = bb.fetch2.runfetchcmd(
-                        "git rev-list %s -- | wc -l" % quote(rev),
+                        "git rev-list %s -- | wc -l" % shlex.quote(rev),
                         d, quiet=True).strip().lstrip('0')
                 if commits:
                     open(rev_file, "w").write("%d\n" % int(commits))