diff --git a/src/gitolite.pm b/src/gitolite.pm
index 5a739e3..82986f9 100644
--- a/src/gitolite.pm
+++ b/src/gitolite.pm
@@ -770,7 +770,7 @@ sub check_repo_write_enabled {
     my ($repo) = shift;
     for my $d ("$ENV{HOME}/.gitolite.down", "$ENV{GL_REPO_BASE_ABS}/$repo.git/.gitolite.down") {
         next unless -f $d;
-        die $ABRT . `cat $d` if -s $d;
+        die $ABRT . slurp($d) if -s $d;
         die $ABRT . "writes are currently disabled\n";
     }
 }