diff --git a/git-cvsimport.perl b/git-cvsimport.perl
index 8093996e25..33777e2785 100755
--- a/git-cvsimport.perl
+++ b/git-cvsimport.perl
@@ -767,7 +767,7 @@ sub commit {
 	waitpid($pid,0);
 	die "Error running git-commit-tree: $?\n" if $?;
 
-	system("git-update-ref $remote/$branch $cid") == 0
+	system('git-update-ref', "$remote/$branch", $cid) == 0
 		or die "Cannot write branch $branch for update: $!\n";
 
 	if ($tag) {