diff --git a/rslib/process/src/lib.rs b/rslib/process/src/lib.rs
index c0e907ae8..aebcf9fb3 100644
--- a/rslib/process/src/lib.rs
+++ b/rslib/process/src/lib.rs
@@ -34,12 +34,10 @@ pub struct Utf8Output {
 }
 
 pub trait CommandExt {
-    fn run<I, S>(cmd_and_args: I) -> Result<()>
-    where
-        I: IntoIterator<Item = S>,
-        S: AsRef<OsStr>,
-    {
-        let mut all_args = cmd_and_args.into_iter();
+    /// A shortcut for when the command and its args are known up-front and have
+    /// no spaces in them.
+    fn run(cmd_and_args: impl AsRef<str>) -> Result<()> {
+        let mut all_args = cmd_and_args.as_ref().split(' ');
         Command::new(all_args.next().unwrap())
             .args(all_args)
             .ensure_success()?;
@@ -111,9 +109,7 @@ mod test {
     #[test]
     fn test_run() {
         assert_eq!(
-            Command::run(["fakefake", "1", "2"])
-                .unwrap_err()
-                .to_string(),
+            Command::run("fakefake 1 2").unwrap_err().to_string(),
             "Failed to execute: fakefake 1 2"
         );
         #[cfg(not(windows))]
diff --git a/tools/minilints/src/main.rs b/tools/minilints/src/main.rs
index edbff45a8..b64d61b5a 100644
--- a/tools/minilints/src/main.rs
+++ b/tools/minilints/src/main.rs
@@ -198,14 +198,14 @@ impl LintContext {
 }
 
 fn check_cargo_deny() -> Result<()> {
-    Command::run(["cargo", "install", "cargo-deny@0.13.5"])?;
-    Command::run(["cargo", "deny", "check", "-A", "duplicate"])?;
+    Command::run("cargo install cargo-deny@0.13.5")?;
+    Command::run("cargo deny check -A duplicate")?;
     Ok(())
 }
 
 fn update_hakari() -> Result<()> {
-    Command::run(["cargo", "install", "cargo-hakari@0.9.23"])?;
-    Command::run(["cargo", "hakari", "generate"])?;
+    Command::run("cargo install cargo-hakari@0.9.23")?;
+    Command::run("cargo hakari generate")?;
     Ok(())
 }
 
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ fn check_for_unstaged_changes() {
 
 fn generate_licences() -> Result<String> {
     if which::which("cargo-license").is_err() {
-        Command::run(["cargo", "install", "cargo-license@0.5.1"])?;
+        Command::run("cargo install cargo-license@0.5.1")?;
     }
     let output = Command::run_with_output([
         "cargo-license",