diff --git a/contrib/subtree/git-subtree.sh b/contrib/subtree/git-subtree.sh
index 8a23f58ba0..10daa8b0eb 100755
--- a/contrib/subtree/git-subtree.sh
+++ b/contrib/subtree/git-subtree.sh
@@ -715,7 +715,8 @@ cmd_push()
 	    repository=$1
 	    refspec=$2
 	    echo "git push using: " $repository $refspec
-	    git push $repository $(git subtree split --prefix=$prefix):refs/heads/$refspec
+	    localrev=$(git subtree split --prefix="$prefix") || die
+	    git push $repository $localrev:refs/heads/$refspec
 	else
 	    die "'$dir' must already exist. Try 'git subtree add'."
 	fi