helpers/xfce-build             |  5 +++--
 helpers/xfce-do-release        | 26 ++++++++++++++------------
 helpers/xfce-get-release-notes |  3 ++-
 helpers/xfce-update-news       |  3 ++-
 4 files changed, 21 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)

diff --git a/helpers/xfce-build b/helpers/xfce-build
index cd26904..8a340df 100755
--- a/helpers/xfce-build
+++ b/helpers/xfce-build
@@ -12,15 +12,16 @@ VERSION="latest"
 CFLAGS="-Wall -Wno-deprecated-declarations -Werror=implicit-function-declaration -Werror=return-type"
 VOLUME=$(pwd)
 BUILD_CMD='cd /tmp; ./autogen.sh && make distcheck'
+DOCKER=docker
 
 docker_pull () {
-	docker pull xfce/xfce-build:$VERSION
+	$DOCKER pull xfce/xfce-build:$VERSION
 }
 
 docker_run () {
 	# Run the build in the docker container
 	# That z parameter for volume is needed when SELinux is enabled
-	docker run --rm -u $(id -u ${USER}):$(id -g ${USER}) --volume $VOLUME:/tmp:z --env CFLAGS="${CFLAGS}" --env CONTAINER=$CONTAINER --env VERSION=$VERSION $CONTAINER:$VERSION /bin/bash -c "${BUILD_CMD}"
+	$DOCKER run --rm -u $(id -u ${USER}):$(id -g ${USER}) --volume $VOLUME:/tmp:z --env CFLAGS="${CFLAGS}" --env CONTAINER=$CONTAINER --env VERSION=$VERSION $CONTAINER:$VERSION /bin/bash -c "${BUILD_CMD}"
 }
 
 # Parse the commandline arguments
diff --git a/helpers/xfce-do-release b/helpers/xfce-do-release
index 04b9855..498f9b5 100755
--- a/helpers/xfce-do-release
+++ b/helpers/xfce-do-release
@@ -6,15 +6,17 @@ steps=0
 steps_complete=0
 version_scheme=1
 warning='\e[1;33mWarning:\e[0m'
+DOCKER=docker
+GIT=git
 
 # Check if the working directory is in the state we expect it to be in
 sanity_checks () {
-	is_git=$(git rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree)
+	is_git=$($GIT rev-parse --is-inside-work-tree)
 	if [ "$is_git" != "true" ]; then
 		exit 1
 	fi
 
-	current_branch=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
+	current_branch=$($GIT rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
 	if [ "$current_branch" != "master" ]; then
 		if [[ "$current_branch" == *"xfce-4"* ]]; then
 			echo "You are on a maintenance branch."
@@ -29,19 +31,19 @@ sanity_checks () {
 	fi
 
 	echo "Updating $current_branch to avoid conflicts..."
-	if [ -n "$(git status --untracked-files=no --porcelain)" ]; then
+	if [ -n "$($GIT status --untracked-files=no --porcelain)" ]; then
 		printf "$warning The working directory is not clean.\nYou have the following unstaged or uncommitted changes:\n"
-		git status --untracked-files=no -s
+		$GIT status --untracked-files=no -s
 		read -n 1 -p "Do you really want to continue? ([y]es, [N]o) " response
 		printf "\n"
 		if [ "$response" != "y" ]; then
 			exit 1
 		fi
 	else
-		git pull
+		$GIT pull
 	fi
 
-	if ! which docker &>/dev/null; then
+	if ! which $DOCKER &>/dev/null; then
 		echo "INFO: please install docker to support building in a clean environment."
 	elif which xfce-build &>/dev/null; then
 		export TAG="xfce-build"
@@ -49,7 +51,7 @@ sanity_checks () {
 	elif ! which xfce-test &>/dev/null; then
 		echo "INFO: please install xfce-test to support building in a clean environment. See https://github.com/schuellerf/xfce-test"
 	else
-		images=$(docker images|grep -Po "(?<=^schuellerf/xfce-test) +[^ ]+"|tr -d ' ')
+		images=$($DOCKER images|grep -Po "(?<=^schuellerf/xfce-test) +[^ ]+"|tr -d ' ')
 		echo "Select xfce-test docker-tag to work with:"
 		select image in $images; do
 			break
@@ -83,10 +85,10 @@ test_parameters () {
 	fi
 
 	# Get the latest tag and increment the patch version by 1
-	latest_tag=$(git describe --abbrev=0 --match "$component*" 2>/dev/null)
+	latest_tag=$($GIT describe --abbrev=0 --match "$component*" 2>/dev/null)
 	if [ "$latest_tag" = "" ]; then
 		echo "Note: This repository does not follow the <component>-<version> schema."
-		latest_tag=$(git describe --abbrev=0)
+		latest_tag=$($GIT describe --abbrev=0)
 		version_scheme=0
 	fi
 
@@ -111,7 +113,7 @@ test_parameters () {
 		version=$2
 	fi
 
-	if [ "$(git tag | grep -c $version\$)" = "1" ]; then
+	if [ "$($GIT tag | grep -c $version\$)" = "1" ]; then
 		printf "$warning The version you specified ('$version') exists as a git tag. "
 		read -n 1 -p "Do you really want to release again? ([y]es, [N]o) " response
 		printf "\n"
@@ -180,7 +182,7 @@ update_appdata_file () {
 edit () {
 	read -n 1 -p " → Accept? ([Y]es, [e]dit) " response
 	if [ "$response" = "e" ]; then
-		$(git config --default "${EDITOR:-vi}" --global core.editor) $1
+		$($GIT config --default "${EDITOR:-vi}" --global core.editor) $1
 	else
 		printf "\n ✓ Accepted.\n"
 	fi
@@ -224,7 +226,7 @@ update_configure_ac_in () {
 		fi
 	fi
 
-	git diff "$configure_file"
+	$GIT diff "$configure_file"
 }
 
 get_sha1_hash () {
diff --git a/helpers/xfce-get-release-notes b/helpers/xfce-get-release-notes
index 7cc0c8f..3bea298 100755
--- a/helpers/xfce-get-release-notes
+++ b/helpers/xfce-get-release-notes
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 SILENT=$2
 LINE_LENGTH=72
 LAST_TAG=$(git describe --abbrev=0)
+GIT=git
 
 if [ -n "$1" ]; then
     LAST_TAG=$1
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ else
     fi
 fi
 
-git log --format=%s ${LAST_TAG}..HEAD | \
+$GIT log --format=%s ${LAST_TAG}..HEAD | \
   grep -v "Updates for release" | \
   grep -v "Update translation" | \
   grep -v "Add new translation" | \
diff --git a/helpers/xfce-update-news b/helpers/xfce-update-news
index 9298bee..715c881 100755
--- a/helpers/xfce-update-news
+++ b/helpers/xfce-update-news
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ SEPARATOR=$(printf '=%.s' $(seq -s ' ' 1 ${#VERSION}))
 LAST_TAG=$(git describe --abbrev=0)
 RELEASE_NOTES=$(xfce-get-release-notes "$LAST_TAG" silent)
 TRANSLATIONS=$(xfce-get-translations "$LAST_TAG" "HEAD" silent)
+GIT=git
 
 if [ "$WRITE_TAG" = "WRITETAG" ]; then
     # Use release note from NEWS if possible, they may have been edited
@@ -23,5 +24,5 @@ else
     printf '%s (%s)\n%s\n%s\n%s\n\n%s\n' \
            $VERSION $(date -I) $SEPARATOR "$RELEASE_NOTES" "$TRANSLATIONS" "$(cat NEWS)" \
            > NEWS
-    git diff NEWS
+    $GIT diff NEWS
 fi