diff --git a/mongodb_consistent_backup/Backup/Mongodump/Mongodump.py b/mongodb_consistent_backup/Backup/Mongodump/Mongodump.py
index fc3c99c9..8d3ac4d7 100644
--- a/mongodb_consistent_backup/Backup/Mongodump/Mongodump.py
+++ b/mongodb_consistent_backup/Backup/Mongodump/Mongodump.py
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 import logging
 import signal
 
-from fabric.api import hide, settings, local
 from math import floor
 from multiprocessing import cpu_count
+from subprocess import check_output
 from time import sleep
 
-from mongodb_consistent_backup.Common import MongoUri
+from mongodb_consistent_backup.Common import MongoUri, config_to_string
 from mongodb_consistent_backup.Errors import Error, OperationError
 from mongodb_consistent_backup.Oplog import OplogState
 from mongodb_consistent_backup.Pipeline import Task
@@ -28,19 +28,33 @@ def __init__(self, manager, config, timer, base_dir, backup_dir, replsets, shard
 
         self.compression_supported = ['auto', 'none', 'gzip']
         self.version               = 'unknown'
+        self.version_extra         = {}
         self.threads_max           = 16
         self.config_replset        = False
         self.dump_threads          = []
         self.states                = {}
         self._summary              = {}
 
+        self.parse_mongodump_version()
+        self.choose_compression()
+
         if self.config.backup.mongodump.threads and self.config.backup.mongodump.threads > 0:
             self.threads(self.config.backup.mongodump.threads)
 
-        with hide('running', 'warnings'), settings(warn_only=True):
-            self.version = local("%s --version|awk 'NR >1 {exit}; /version/{print $NF}'" % self.binary, capture=True)
-
-        self.choose_compression()
+    def parse_mongodump_version(self):
+        if os.path.isfile(self.binary):
+            output = check_output([self.binary, "--version"])
+            lines  = output.rstrip().split("\n")
+            for line in lines:
+                if "version:" in line:
+                    name, version_num = line.split(" version: ")
+                    if name == 'mongodump':
+                        self.version = version_num
+                        if '-' in version_num:
+                            self.version = version_num.split("-")[0]
+                    self.version_extra[name.lower()] = version_num
+            return self.version, self.version_extra
+        raise OperationError("Could not parse mongodump --version output!")
 
     def choose_compression(self):
         if self.can_gzip():
@@ -97,7 +111,7 @@ def wait(self):
     def threads(self, threads=None):
         if threads:
             self.thread_count = int(threads)
-        elif not self.thread_count:
+        elif not self.thread_count and self.version is not 'unknown':
             if tuple(self.version.split(".")) >= tuple("3.2.0".split(".")):
                 self.thread_count = 1
                 if self.cpu_count > len(self.replsets):
@@ -135,8 +149,13 @@ def run(self):
         if not len(self.dump_threads) > 0:
             raise OperationError('No backup threads started!')
 
+        options = {
+            'compression':      self.compression(),
+            'threads_per_dump': self.threads()
+        }
+        options.update(self.version_extra)
         logging.info(
-            "Starting backups using mongodump %s (options: compression=%s, threads_per_dump=%i)" % (self.version, self.compression(), self.threads()))
+            "Starting backups using mongodump %s (options: %s)" % (self.version, config_to_string(options)))
         for thread in self.dump_threads:
             thread.start()
         self.wait()
diff --git a/mongodb_consistent_backup/Common/Util.py b/mongodb_consistent_backup/Common/Util.py
index a2c4713a..e09df743 100644
--- a/mongodb_consistent_backup/Common/Util.py
+++ b/mongodb_consistent_backup/Common/Util.py
@@ -6,10 +6,10 @@
 
 
 def config_to_string(config):
-    config_vars = ""
+    config_pairs = []
     for key in config:
-        config_vars += "%s=%s, " % (key, config[key])
-    return config_vars[:-1]
+        config_pairs.append("%s=%s" % (key, config[key]))
+    return ", ".join(config_pairs)
 
 def is_datetime(string):
     try: