diff --git a/contrib/dialog/prgbox.c b/contrib/dialog/prgbox.c
index fea23936db9a..8c9f627cc888 100644
--- a/contrib/dialog/prgbox.c
+++ b/contrib/dialog/prgbox.c
@@ -33,8 +33,7 @@ dlg_popen(const char *command, const char *type)
     FILE *result = 0;
     int fd[2];
     int pid;
-    char *blob;
-    char **argv;
+    const char *argv[4];
 
     if ((*type == 'r' || *type != 'w') && pipe(fd) == 0) {
 	switch (pid = fork()) {
@@ -63,11 +62,11 @@ dlg_popen(const char *command, const char *type)
 	     * given command.  Also, it needs the command to be parsed into
 	     * tokens.
 	     */
-	    if ((blob = malloc(4 + strlen(command))) != 0) {
-		sprintf(blob, "-c %s", command);
-		argv = dlg_string_to_argv(blob);
-		execvp("sh", argv);
-	    }
+	    argv[0] = "sh";
+	    argv[1] = "-c";
+	    argv[2] = command;
+	    argv[3] = NULL;
+	    execvp("sh", (char **)argv);
 	    _exit(127);
 	    /* NOTREACHED */
 	default:		/* parent */