diff --git a/Alien/Package/Deb.pm b/Alien/Package/Deb.pm
index ed62e94..e108794 100644
--- a/Alien/Package/Deb.pm
+++ b/Alien/Package/Deb.pm
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ sub install {
 	my $this=shift;
 	my $deb=shift;
 
-	system("dpkg --no-force-overwrite -i $deb") == 0
+	system("dpkg", "--no-force-overwrite", "-i", $deb) == 0
 		or die "Unable to install";
 }
 
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ sub unpack {
 	my $file=$this->filename;
 
 	if ($this->have_dpkg_deb) {
-		system("dpkg-deb -x $file ".$this->unpacked_tree) == 0
+		system("dpkg-deb", "-x", $file, $this->unpacked_tree) == 0
 			or die "Unpacking of `$file' failed: $!";
 	}
 	else {
@@ -256,8 +256,8 @@ sub prep {
 		# Look for .rej files.
 		die "patch failed with .rej files; giving up"
 			if `find $dir -name "*.rej"`;
-		system('find . -name \'*.orig\' -exec rm {} \\;');
-		chmod 0755,"$dir/debian/rules";
+		system('find', '.', '-name', '*.orig', '-exec', 'rm', '{}', ';');
+		chmod 0755, "$dir/debian/rules";
 		return;
 	}
 
@@ -384,8 +384,10 @@ sub build {
 	my $this=shift;
 
 	chdir $this->unpacked_tree;
-	system("debian/rules binary >/dev/null") == 0
-		or die "package build failed: $!";
+	my $log=`debian/rules binary`;
+	if ($?) {
+		die "Package build failed. Here's the log:\n", $log;
+	}
 	chdir "..";
 
 	return $this->name."_".$this->version."-".$this->release."_".$this->arch.".deb";
@@ -401,7 +403,7 @@ sub cleantree {
         my $this=shift;
 	my $dir=$this->unpacked_tree || die "The package must be unpacked first!";
 
-	system("rm -rf $dir/debian");
+	system("rm", "-rf", "$dir/debian");
 }
 
 =item package
diff --git a/Alien/Package/Rpm.pm b/Alien/Package/Rpm.pm
index df88b7e..975398c 100644
--- a/Alien/Package/Rpm.pm
+++ b/Alien/Package/Rpm.pm
@@ -352,8 +352,11 @@ sub build {
 	}
 
 	$opts.=" $ENV{RPMBUILDOPTS}" if exists $ENV{RPMBUILDOPTS};
-	system("cd $dir; rpm $opts -bb ".$this->name."-".$this->version."-".$this->release.".spec >/dev/null") == 0
-		or die "package build failed";
+	my $command="cd $dir; rpm $opts -bb ".$this->name."-".$this->version."-".$this->release.".spec >/dev/null";
+	my $log=`$command`;
+	if ($?) {
+		die "Package build failed. Here's the log:\n", $log;
+	}
 
 	return $rpm;
 }
diff --git a/Alien/Package/Slp.pm b/Alien/Package/Slp.pm
index 88f3f78..d380dfc 100644
--- a/Alien/Package/Slp.pm
+++ b/Alien/Package/Slp.pm
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ sub install {
 	my $this=shift;
 	my $slp=shift;
 
-	system("slpi $slp") == 0
+	system("slpi", $slp) == 0
 		or die "Unable to install";
 }
 
diff --git a/Alien/Package/Tgz.pm b/Alien/Package/Tgz.pm
index 9f3de83..abcdedc 100644
--- a/Alien/Package/Tgz.pm
+++ b/Alien/Package/Tgz.pm
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ sub install {
 	my $tgz=shift;
 
 	if (-x "/sbin/installpkg") {
-		system("/sbin/installpkg $tgz") == 0
+		system("/sbin/installpkg", "$tgz") == 0
 			or die "Unable to install";
 	}
 	else {
diff --git a/alien.pl b/alien.pl
index 88f0c3d..5c4df77 100755
--- a/alien.pl
+++ b/alien.pl
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ foreach my $file (@ARGV) {
 			# Make .orig.tar.gz directory?
 			if ($format eq 'deb' && ! $single && $generate) {
 				# Make .orig.tar.gz directory.
-				system("cp -fa ".$package->unpacked_tree." ".$package->unpacked_tree.".orig") == 0
+				system("cp", "-fa", $package->unpacked_tree, $package->unpacked_tree.".orig") == 0
 					or die "cp -fa failed";
 			}
 	
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index a5301c6..6d61fbb 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+alien (7.26) unstable; urgency=low
+
+  * Moved as many system calls as I can over to shellless execution.
+    There are still a lot that use shell tricks. Should deal with screwey
+    rpms and file names better though. Closes: #105283
+  * Display build logs after build failures.
+
+ -- Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>  Sun, 15 Jul 2001 10:16:20 -0400
+
 alien (7.25) unstable; urgency=low
 
   * Treat 'armv4l' arch rpm's as arm architecture.