diff --git a/gitver.go b/gitver.go
index b22ef67..56feed3 100644
--- a/gitver.go
+++ b/gitver.go
@@ -142,7 +142,13 @@ func semVer(desc string) string {
 }
 
 func gitTimestamp(desc string) (time.Time, error) {
-	args := strings.Split(fmt.Sprintf("git show %s --format=%%cd --date=format:%%Y-%%m-%%dT%%H:%%M:%%SZ%%z --no-patch", desc), " ")
+	args := []string{
+		"git",
+		"show", desc,
+		"--format=%cd",
+		"--date=format:%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ%z",
+		"--no-patch",
+	}
 	cmd := exec.Command(args[0], args[1:]...)
 	out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
 	fmt.Printf("args:\n%#v\n\n", args)