diff --git a/src/df.js b/src/df.js
index 0e19ea8be..377533273 100644
--- a/src/df.js
+++ b/src/df.js
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@ exports = module.exports = {
 
 const assert = require('assert'),
     BoxError = require('./boxerror.js'),
-    safe = require('safetydance');
+    debug = require('debug')('box:df'),
+    safe = require('safetydance'),
+    shell = require('./shell.js');
 
 // binary units (non SI) 1024 based
 function prettyBytes(bytes) {
@@ -35,8 +37,11 @@ function parseLine(line) {
 }
 
 async function disks() {
-    const output = safe.child_process.execSync('df -B1 --output=source,fstype,size,used,avail,pcent,target', { encoding: 'utf8' });
-    if (!output) throw new BoxError(BoxError.FS_ERROR, `Error running df: ${safe.error.message}`);
+    const [error, output] = await safe(shell.promises.exec('disks', 'df -B1 --output=source,fstype,size,used,avail,pcent,target'));
+    if (error) {
+        debug(`disks: df command failed. error: ${error}\n stdout: ${error.stdout}\n stderr: ${error.stderr}`);
+        throw new BoxError(BoxError.FS_ERROR, `Error running df: ${error.message}`);
+    }
 
     const lines = output.trim().split('\n').slice(1); // discard header
     const result = [];
@@ -49,8 +54,11 @@ async function disks() {
 async function file(filename) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof filename, 'string');
 
-    const output = safe.child_process.execSync(`df -B1 --output=source,fstype,size,used,avail,pcent,target ${filename}`, { encoding: 'utf8' });
-    if (!output) throw new BoxError(BoxError.FS_ERROR, `Error running df: ${safe.error.message}`);
+    const [error, output] = await safe(shell.promises.exec('file', `df -B1 --output=source,fstype,size,used,avail,pcent,target ${filename}`));
+    if (error) {
+        debug(`file: df command failed. error: ${error}\n stdout: ${error.stdout}\n stderr: ${error.stderr}`);
+        throw new BoxError(BoxError.FS_ERROR, `Error running df: ${error.message}`);
+    }
 
     const lines = output.trim().split('\n').slice(1); // discard header
     return parseLine(lines[0]);