diff --git a/connect.c b/connect.c
index 1c6429bd51a661..49251f9437183e 100644
--- a/connect.c
+++ b/connect.c
@@ -599,12 +599,13 @@ static void git_proxy_connect(int fd[2], char *host)
 	close(pipefd[1][0]);
 }
 
+#define MAX_CMD_LEN 1024
+
 /*
  * Yeah, yeah, fixme. Need to pass in the heads etc.
  */
 int git_connect(int fd[2], char *url, const char *prog)
 {
-	char command[1024];
 	char *host, *path = url;
 	char *end;
 	int c;
@@ -697,8 +698,18 @@ int git_connect(int fd[2], char *url, const char *prog)
 	if (pid < 0)
 		die("unable to fork");
 	if (!pid) {
-		snprintf(command, sizeof(command), "%s %s", prog,
-			 sq_quote(path));
+		char command[MAX_CMD_LEN];
+		char *posn = command;
+		int size = MAX_CMD_LEN;
+		int of = 0;
+
+		of |= add_to_string(&posn, &size, prog, 0);
+		of |= add_to_string(&posn, &size, " ", 0);
+		of |= add_to_string(&posn, &size, path, 1);
+
+		if (of)
+			die("command line too long");
+
 		dup2(pipefd[1][0], 0);
 		dup2(pipefd[0][1], 1);
 		close(pipefd[0][0]);