diff --git a/fdroidserver/common.py b/fdroidserver/common.py
index 62bf816f..93166a78 100644
--- a/fdroidserver/common.py
+++ b/fdroidserver/common.py
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ class vcs_svn(vcs):
             for svncommand in (
                     'svn revert -R .',
                     r"svn status | awk '/\?/ {print $2}' | xargs rm -rf"):
-                if subprocess.call(svncommand, cwd=self.local) != 0:
+                if subprocess.call(svncommand, cwd=self.local, shell=True) != 0:
                     raise VCSException("Svn reset ({0}) failed in {1}".format(svncommand, self.local))
             if not self.refreshed:
                 if subprocess.call(['svn', 'update'] +