diff --git a/repmgr-action-standby.c b/repmgr-action-standby.c
index 3e6ba288..0df3001d 100644
--- a/repmgr-action-standby.c
+++ b/repmgr-action-standby.c
@@ -2267,7 +2267,6 @@ run_file_backup(void)
 	char		basebackups_directory[MAXLEN];
 	char		backup_id[MAXLEN] = "";
 	char		*p, *q;
-	PQExpBufferData command_output;
 	TablespaceDataList tablespace_list = { NULL, NULL };
 	TablespaceDataListCell *cell_t;
 
@@ -2361,7 +2360,7 @@ run_file_backup(void)
 									local_repmgr_tmp_directory);
 					(void)local_command(
 						command,
-						&command_output);
+						NULL);
 
 					/*
 					 * Get tablespace data
@@ -2471,7 +2470,7 @@ run_file_backup(void)
 
 		(void)local_command(
 			command,
-			&command_output);
+			NULL);
 
 		unlink(datadir_list_filename);
 
@@ -2573,7 +2572,7 @@ run_file_backup(void)
 								tblspc_dir_dest);
 				(void)local_command(
 					command,
-					&command_output);
+					NULL);
 				fclose(cell_t->f);
 				maxlen_snprintf(filename,
 								"%s/%s.txt",
diff --git a/repmgr-client.c b/repmgr-client.c
index 32e85690..1d59f762 100644
--- a/repmgr-client.c
+++ b/repmgr-client.c
@@ -1565,31 +1565,29 @@ local_command(const char *command, PQExpBufferData *outputbuf)
 		retval = system(command);
 		return (retval == 0) ? true : false;
 	}
-	else
+
+	fp = popen(command, "r");
+
+	if (fp == NULL)
 	{
-		fp = popen(command, "r");
-
-		if (fp == NULL)
-		{
-			log_error(_("unable to execute local command:\n%s"), command);
-			return false;
-		}
-
-		/* TODO: better error handling */
-		while (fgets(output, MAXLEN, fp) != NULL)
-		{
-			appendPQExpBuffer(outputbuf, "%s", output);
-		}
-
-		pclose(fp);
-
-		if (outputbuf->data != NULL)
-			log_verbose(LOG_DEBUG, "local_command(): output returned was:\n%s", outputbuf->data);
-		else
-			log_verbose(LOG_DEBUG, "local_command(): no output returned");
-
-		return true;
+		log_error(_("unable to execute local command:\n%s"), command);
+		return false;
 	}
+
+	/* TODO: better error handling */
+	while (fgets(output, MAXLEN, fp) != NULL)
+	{
+		appendPQExpBuffer(outputbuf, "%s", output);
+	}
+
+	pclose(fp);
+
+	if (outputbuf->data != NULL)
+		log_verbose(LOG_DEBUG, "local_command(): output returned was:\n%s", outputbuf->data);
+	else
+		log_verbose(LOG_DEBUG, "local_command(): no output returned");
+
+	return true;
 }