diff --git a/t/t3200-branch.sh b/t/t3200-branch.sh
index 33aba87b9a..d3bbd00b81 100755
--- a/t/t3200-branch.sh
+++ b/t/t3200-branch.sh
@@ -576,7 +576,7 @@ EOF
 
 	# ...and that the comments for those sections are also
 	# preserved.
-	cat config.branch | sed "s/\"source\"/\"dest\"/" >expect &&
+	sed "s/\"source\"/\"dest\"/" config.branch >expect &&
 	sed -n -e "/Note the lack/,\$p" .git/config >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '
diff --git a/t/t3321-notes-stripspace.sh b/t/t3321-notes-stripspace.sh
index 088a852dd4..beca346056 100755
--- a/t/t3321-notes-stripspace.sh
+++ b/t/t3321-notes-stripspace.sh
@@ -442,7 +442,7 @@ test_expect_success 'add note by specifying "-C", "--no-stripspace" is the defau
 	${LF}
 	EOF
 
-	cat expect | git hash-object -w --stdin >blob &&
+	git hash-object -w --stdin <expect >blob &&
 	git notes add -C $(cat blob) &&
 	git notes show >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual &&
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ test_expect_success 'reuse note by specifying "-C" and "--stripspace"' '
 	second-line
 	EOF
 
-	cat data | git hash-object -w --stdin >blob &&
+	git hash-object -w --stdin <data >blob &&
 	git notes add --stripspace -C $(cat blob) &&
 	git notes show >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
@@ -492,7 +492,7 @@ test_expect_success 'reuse with "-C" and add note with "-m", "-m" will stripspac
 	third-line
 	EOF
 
-	cat data | git hash-object -w --stdin >blob &&
+	git hash-object -w --stdin <data >blob &&
 	git notes add -C $(cat blob) -m "third-line" &&
 	git notes show >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
@@ -511,7 +511,7 @@ test_expect_success 'add note with "-m" and reuse note with "-C", "-C" will not
 	second-line
 	EOF
 
-	cat data | git hash-object -w --stdin >blob &&
+	git hash-object -w --stdin <data >blob &&
 	git notes add -m "first-line" -C $(cat blob)  &&
 	git notes show >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
diff --git a/t/t3920-crlf-messages.sh b/t/t3920-crlf-messages.sh
index 67fd2345af..5eed640a68 100755
--- a/t/t3920-crlf-messages.sh
+++ b/t/t3920-crlf-messages.sh
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ LIB_CRLF_BRANCHES=""
 create_crlf_ref () {
 	branch="$1" &&
 	cat >.crlf-orig-$branch.txt &&
-	cat .crlf-orig-$branch.txt | append_cr >.crlf-message-$branch.txt &&
+	append_cr <.crlf-orig-$branch.txt >.crlf-message-$branch.txt &&
 	grep 'Subject' .crlf-orig-$branch.txt | tr '\n' ' ' | sed 's/[ ]*$//' | tr -d '\n' >.crlf-subject-$branch.txt &&
 	grep 'Body' .crlf-orig-$branch.txt | append_cr >.crlf-body-$branch.txt &&
 	LIB_CRLF_BRANCHES="${LIB_CRLF_BRANCHES} ${branch}" &&