diff --git a/apertium_apy/handlers/translate_doc.py b/apertium_apy/handlers/translate_doc.py
index 1fbe92cbc..66922efba 100644
--- a/apertium_apy/handlers/translate_doc.py
+++ b/apertium_apy/handlers/translate_doc.py
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import os
+import shutil
+import subprocess
 import tempfile
 import zipfile
-from subprocess import check_output, check_call, CalledProcessError, PIPE
 
 import tornado
 from tornado import gen
@@ -11,9 +12,9 @@
 FILE_SIZE_LIMIT_BYTES = 32E6
 
 MIMETYPE_COMMANDS = {
-    'mimetype': lambda x: check_output(['mimetype', '-b', x], universal_newlines=True).strip(),
-    'xdg-mime': lambda x: check_output(['xdg-mime', 'query', 'filetype', x], universal_newlines=True).strip(),
-    'file': lambda x: check_output(['file', '--mime-type', '-b', x], universal_newlines=True).strip(),
+    'mimetype': lambda x: subprocess.check_output(['mimetype', '-b', x], universal_newlines=True).strip(),
+    'xdg-mime': lambda x: subprocess.check_output(['xdg-mime', 'query', 'filetype', x], universal_newlines=True).strip(),
+    'file': lambda x: subprocess.check_output(['file', '--mime-type', '-b', x], universal_newlines=True).strip(),
 }
 
 ALLOWED_MIME_TYPES = {
@@ -62,12 +63,9 @@ class TranslateDocHandler(TranslateHandler):
     def get_mime_type(cls, f):
         if not cls.mime_type_command:
             for command in MIMETYPE_COMMANDS.keys():
-                try:
-                    check_call(['which', command], stdout=PIPE)
+                if shutil.which(command):
                     cls.mime_type_command = command
                     break
-                except CalledProcessError:
-                    pass
 
         mime_type = MIMETYPE_COMMANDS[cls.mime_type_command](f).split(';')[0]
         if mime_type == 'application/zip':