diff --git a/.github/scripts/cmp-config.pl b/.github/scripts/cmp-config.pl
index eef6b24927..5db91cd49f 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/cmp-config.pl
+++ b/.github/scripts/cmp-config.pl
@@ -135,4 +135,4 @@ foreach my $v (keys %remove) {
 }
 
 # return the exit code from diff
-exit system("diff -u /tmp/autotools /tmp/cmake") >> 8;
+exit system('diff', ('-u', '/tmp/autotools', '/tmp/cmake')) >> 8;
diff --git a/.github/scripts/verify-examples.pl b/.github/scripts/verify-examples.pl
index 25be634c8f..dd6ff8d974 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/verify-examples.pl
+++ b/.github/scripts/verify-examples.pl
@@ -37,12 +37,12 @@ if(!@files || $files[0] eq "-h") {
 }
 
 sub testcompile {
-    my $rc = system("gcc -c test.c -I include -W -Wall -pedantic -Werror -Wno-unused-parameter -Wno-unused-but-set-variable -DCURL_ALLOW_OLD_MULTI_SOCKET -DCURL_DISABLE_DEPRECATION") >> 8;
+    my $rc = system('gcc -c test.c -I include -W -Wall -pedantic -Werror -Wno-unused-parameter -Wno-unused-but-set-variable -DCURL_ALLOW_OLD_MULTI_SOCKET -DCURL_DISABLE_DEPRECATION') >> 8;
     return $rc;
 }
 
 sub checksrc {
-    my $rc = system("$check test.c") >> 8;
+    my $rc = system($check, ('test.c')) >> 8;
     return $rc;
 }
 
diff --git a/.github/scripts/verify-synopsis.pl b/.github/scripts/verify-synopsis.pl
index 2b473f8b4d..00070f318e 100755
--- a/.github/scripts/verify-synopsis.pl
+++ b/.github/scripts/verify-synopsis.pl
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ if(!@files || $files[0] eq "-h") {
 }
 
 sub testcompile {
-    my $rc = system("gcc -c test.c -I include -W -Wall -pedantic -Werror -DCURL_ALLOW_OLD_MULTI_SOCKET -DCURL_DISABLE_TYPECHECK") >> 8;
+    my $rc = system('gcc -c test.c -I include -W -Wall -pedantic -Werror -DCURL_ALLOW_OLD_MULTI_SOCKET -DCURL_DISABLE_TYPECHECK') >> 8;
     return $rc;
 }
 
diff --git a/scripts/cdall b/scripts/cdall
index 3c5c68b525..5fd146d0b8 100755
--- a/scripts/cdall
+++ b/scripts/cdall
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ sub convert {
         my $nroff = "$cd";
         $nroff =~ s/\.md\z/.3/;
         print "$dir/$cd = $dir/$nroff\n";
-        system("./scripts/cd2nroff -d $dir $dir/$cd");
+        system('./scripts/cd2nroff', ('-d', $dir, "$dir/$cd"));
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/scripts/randdisable b/scripts/randdisable
index 89778c146c..a59c6c8125 100755
--- a/scripts/randdisable
+++ b/scripts/randdisable
@@ -53,31 +53,31 @@ do {
     my $num = rand(scalar(@disable) - 2) + 2;
 
     my $c = 0;
-    my $arg;
+    my @arg;
     for my $d (shuffle @disable) {
-        $arg .= " $d";
+        push @arg, $d;
         if(++$c >= $num) {
             last;
         }
     }
 
     my @stls = shuffle @tls;
-    $arg.= " ".$stls[0];
+    push @arg, @stls;
 
-    system("make clean");
-    if(system("./configure $arg")) {
+    system('make', ('clean'));
+    if(system('./configure', @arg)) {
         print STDERR "configure problem\n";
-        print STDERR "./configure $arg\n";
+        print STDERR "./configure " . join(' ', @arg) . "\n";
         exit 1;
     }
-    if(system("make -sj10")) {
+    if(system('make', ('-sj10'))) {
         print STDERR "Build problem\n";
-        print STDERR "./configure $arg\n";
+        print STDERR "./configure " . join(' ', @arg) . "\n";
         exit 1;
     }
     if(system("./src/curl -V 2>/dev/null")) {
         print STDERR "Running problem\n";
-        print STDERR "./configure $arg\n";
+        print STDERR "./configure " . join(' ', @arg) . "\n";
         exit 1;
     }
 } while(1);
diff --git a/scripts/spacecheck.pl b/scripts/spacecheck.pl
index ff498c5a85..d23bf9bd07 100755
--- a/scripts/spacecheck.pl
+++ b/scripts/spacecheck.pl
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ sub eol_detect {
 
 my $issues = 0;
 
-open(my $git_ls_files, '-|', 'git ls-files') or die "Failed running git ls-files: $!";
+open(my $git_ls_files, '-|', 'git', 'ls-files') or die "Failed running git ls-files: $!";
 while(my $filename = <$git_ls_files>) {
     chomp $filename;
 
diff --git a/tests/certs/genserv.pl b/tests/certs/genserv.pl
index 2e61ecece6..321d76320f 100755
--- a/tests/certs/genserv.pl
+++ b/tests/certs/genserv.pl
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ if(!$CAPREFIX) {
     }
 
     print "$OPENSSL\n";
-    system("$OPENSSL version");
+    system($OPENSSL, ('version'));
 
     $PREFIX = $CAPREFIX;
     $DURATION = 6000;
diff --git a/tests/libtest/test613.pl b/tests/libtest/test613.pl
index 813052cb70..f653b36c13 100755
--- a/tests/libtest/test613.pl
+++ b/tests/libtest/test613.pl
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ if($ARGV[0] eq "prepare") {
     utime time, timegm(0,0,12,31,11,100), "rofile.txt";
     chmod 0444, "rofile.txt";
     if($^O eq 'cygwin') {
-      system "chattr +r rofile.txt";
+      system('chattr', ('+r', 'rofile.txt'));
     }
 
     exit 0;
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ elsif($ARGV[0] eq "postprocess") {
 
     # Clean up the test directory
     if($^O eq 'cygwin') {
-      system "chattr -r $dirname/rofile.txt";
+      system('chattr', ('-r', "$dirname/rofile.txt"));
     }
     chmod 0666, "$dirname/rofile.txt";
     unlink "$dirname/rofile.txt";
diff --git a/tests/sshserver.pl b/tests/sshserver.pl
index 8c0d00680b..84baf6a52b 100755
--- a/tests/sshserver.pl
+++ b/tests/sshserver.pl
@@ -811,7 +811,7 @@ if($error) {
 #***************************************************************************
 # Verify that sshd actually supports our generated configuration file
 #
-if(system "\"$sshd\" -t -f $sshdconfig_abs > $sshdlog 2>&1") {
+if(system("\"$sshd\" -t -f $sshdconfig_abs > $sshdlog 2>&1")) {
     logmsg "sshd configuration file $sshdconfig failed verification\n";
     display_sshdlog();
     display_sshdconfig();
diff --git a/tests/testcurl.pl b/tests/testcurl.pl
index d8d7d697df..28614503af 100755
--- a/tests/testcurl.pl
+++ b/tests/testcurl.pl
@@ -190,10 +190,10 @@ sub rmtree($) {
     if($^O eq 'MSWin32') {
         foreach (glob($target)) {
             s:/:\\:g;
-            system("rd /s /q $_");
+            system('rd', ('/s', '/q', $_));
         }
     } else {
-        system("rm -rf $target");
+        system('rm', ('-rf', $target));
     }
 }
 
@@ -568,7 +568,7 @@ if($configurebuild) {
 } else {
     logit "copying files to build directory ...";
     if($^O eq 'MSWin32') {
-        system("xcopy /s /q \"$CURLDIR\" .");
+        system('xcopy', ('/s', '/q', $CURLDIR, '.'));
     }
 }