diff --git a/t/t5537-fetch-shallow.sh b/t/t5537-fetch-shallow.sh
index a9805746820..df8d2f095a4 100755
--- a/t/t5537-fetch-shallow.sh
+++ b/t/t5537-fetch-shallow.sh
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ EOF
 test_expect_success 'fetch something upstream has but hidden by clients shallow boundaries' '
 	# the blob "1" is available in .git but hidden by the
 	# shallow2/.git/shallow and it should be resent
-	! git --git-dir=shallow2/.git cat-file blob `echo 1|git hash-object --stdin` >/dev/null &&
+	! git --git-dir=shallow2/.git cat-file blob $(echo 1|git hash-object --stdin) >/dev/null &&
 	echo 1 >1.t &&
 	git add 1.t &&
 	git commit -m add-1-back &&
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ add-1-back
 EOF
 	test_cmp expect actual
 	) &&
-	git --git-dir=shallow2/.git cat-file blob `echo 1|git hash-object --stdin` >/dev/null
+	git --git-dir=shallow2/.git cat-file blob $(echo 1|git hash-object --stdin) >/dev/null
 
 '