diff --git a/doc/make.py b/doc/make.py
index dd1a4878c3b3..378cbb6973b3 100755
--- a/doc/make.py
+++ b/doc/make.py
@@ -172,13 +172,9 @@ def latex():
             raise SystemExit("Building LaTeX failed.")
 
         # Produce pdf.
-        os.chdir('build/latex')
-
         # Call the makefile produced by sphinx...
-        if os.system('make'):
-            raise SystemExit("Rendering LaTeX failed.")
-
-        os.chdir('../..')
+        if subprocess.call("make", cwd="build/latex"):
+            raise SystemExit("Rendering LaTeX failed with.")
     else:
         print('latex build has not been tested on windows')
 
@@ -195,13 +191,9 @@ def texinfo():
             raise SystemExit("Building Texinfo failed.")
 
         # Produce info file.
-        os.chdir('build/texinfo')
-
         # Call the makefile produced by sphinx...
-        if os.system('make'):
-            raise SystemExit("Rendering Texinfo failed.")
-
-        os.chdir('../..')
+        if subprocess.call("make", cwd="build/texinfo"):
+            raise SystemExit("Rendering Texinfo failed with.")
     else:
         print('texinfo build has not been tested on windows')
 
diff --git a/examples/pylab_examples/mathtext_examples.py b/examples/pylab_examples/mathtext_examples.py
index bee528de214d..eac9670bcdc5 100644
--- a/examples/pylab_examples/mathtext_examples.py
+++ b/examples/pylab_examples/mathtext_examples.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 """
 from __future__ import print_function
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
-import os
+import subprocess
 import sys
 import re
 import gc
@@ -120,6 +120,6 @@ def doall():
     fd.write("\\end{document}\n")
     fd.close()
 
-    os.system("pdflatex mathtext_examples.ltx")
+    subprocess.call(["pdflatex", "mathtext_examples.ltx"])
 else:
     doall()
diff --git a/examples/pylab_examples/movie_demo.py b/examples/pylab_examples/movie_demo.py
index 0d8e61338257..7e9368f459f0 100644
--- a/examples/pylab_examples/movie_demo.py
+++ b/examples/pylab_examples/movie_demo.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 from __future__ import print_function
 
-import os
+import subprocess
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 import numpy as np
 
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@
     files.append(fname)
 
 print('Making movie animation.mpg - this may take a while')
-os.system("mencoder 'mf://_tmp*.png' -mf type=png:fps=10 -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=wmv2 -oac copy -o animation.mpg")
-#os.system("convert _tmp*.png animation.mng")
+subprocess.call("mencoder 'mf://_tmp*.png' -mf type=png:fps=10 -ovc lavc "
+                "-lavcopts vcodec=wmv2 -oac copy -o animation.mpg", shell=True)
 
 # cleanup
 for fname in files:
diff --git a/examples/pylab_examples/stix_fonts_demo.py b/examples/pylab_examples/stix_fonts_demo.py
index 81bd73575cdc..bbc6828339d0 100644
--- a/examples/pylab_examples/stix_fonts_demo.py
+++ b/examples/pylab_examples/stix_fonts_demo.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
-import os
+import subprocess
 import sys
 import re
 import gc
@@ -53,6 +53,6 @@ def doall():
     fd.write("\\end{document}\n")
     fd.close()
 
-    os.system("pdflatex stix_fonts_examples.ltx")
+    subprocess.call(["pdflatex", "stix_fonts_examples.ltx"])
 else:
     doall()
diff --git a/examples/tests/backend_driver.py b/examples/tests/backend_driver.py
index e084e032f9d8..83b768644071 100644
--- a/examples/tests/backend_driver.py
+++ b/examples/tests/backend_driver.py
@@ -337,19 +337,16 @@ def report_all_missing(directories):
     )
 
 
-try:
-    import subprocess
-
-    def run(arglist):
-        try:
-            ret = subprocess.call(arglist)
-        except KeyboardInterrupt:
-            sys.exit()
-        else:
-            return ret
-except ImportError:
-    def run(arglist):
-        os.system(' '.join(arglist))
+from matplotlib.compat import subprocess
+
+
+def run(arglist):
+    try:
+        ret = subprocess.call(arglist)
+    except KeyboardInterrupt:
+        sys.exit()
+    else:
+        return ret
 
 
 def drive(backend, directories, python=['python'], switches=[]):
@@ -420,7 +417,7 @@ def drive(backend, directories, python=['python'], switches=[]):
         ret = run(program + [tmpfile_name] + switches)
         end_time = time.time()
         print("%s %s" % ((end_time - start_time), ret))
-        #os.system('%s %s %s' % (python, tmpfile_name, ' '.join(switches)))
+        # subprocess.call([python, tmpfile_name] + switches)
         os.remove(tmpfile_name)
         if ret:
             failures.append(fullpath)
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_ps.py b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_ps.py
index 167eff74167d..72d9d6f0f39f 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_ps.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_ps.py
@@ -8,21 +8,19 @@
 import six
 from six.moves import StringIO
 
-import glob, math, os, shutil, sys, time, datetime
+import glob, os, shutil, sys, time, datetime
 def _fn_name(): return sys._getframe(1).f_code.co_name
 import io
 
-from hashlib import md5
-
 from tempfile import mkstemp
 from matplotlib import verbose, __version__, rcParams, checkdep_ghostscript
-from matplotlib._pylab_helpers import Gcf
 from matplotlib.afm import AFM
 from matplotlib.backend_bases import RendererBase, GraphicsContextBase,\
      FigureManagerBase, FigureCanvasBase
 
 from matplotlib.cbook import is_string_like, get_realpath_and_stat, \
     is_writable_file_like, maxdict, file_requires_unicode
+from matplotlib.compat.subprocess import subprocess
 from matplotlib.figure import Figure
 
 from matplotlib.font_manager import findfont, is_opentype_cff_font, get_font
@@ -30,7 +28,6 @@ def _fn_name(): return sys._getframe(1).f_code.co_name
 from matplotlib.ttconv import convert_ttf_to_ps
 from matplotlib.mathtext import MathTextParser
 from matplotlib._mathtext_data import uni2type1
-from matplotlib.text import Text
 from matplotlib.path import Path
 from matplotlib import _path
 from matplotlib.transforms import Affine2D
@@ -69,8 +66,8 @@ def gs_exe(self):
         if gs_exe is None:
             gs_exe = 'gs'
 
-        self._cached["gs_exe"] = gs_exe
-        return gs_exe
+        self._cached["gs_exe"] = str(gs_exe)
+        return str(gs_exe)
 
     @property
     def gs_version(self):
@@ -83,8 +80,7 @@ def gs_version(self):
             pass
 
         from matplotlib.compat.subprocess import Popen, PIPE
-        s = Popen(self.gs_exe + " --version",
-                     shell=True, stdout=PIPE)
+        s = Popen([self.gs_exe, "--version"], stdout=PIPE)
         pipe, stderr = s.communicate()
         if six.PY3:
             ver = pipe.decode('ascii')
@@ -474,8 +470,6 @@ def draw_image(self, gc, x, y, im, transform=None):
         self._pswriter.write(ps)
 
     def _convert_path(self, path, transform, clip=False, simplify=None):
-        ps = []
-        last_points = None
         if clip:
             clip = (0.0, 0.0, self.width * 72.0,
                     self.height * 72.0)
@@ -516,8 +510,6 @@ def draw_markers(self, gc, marker_path, marker_trans, path, trans, rgbFace=None)
         """
         if debugPS: self._pswriter.write('% draw_markers \n')
 
-        write = self._pswriter.write
-
         if rgbFace:
             if rgbFace[0]==rgbFace[1] and rgbFace[0]==rgbFace[2]:
                 ps_color = '%1.3f setgray' % rgbFace[0]
@@ -885,7 +877,6 @@ def _draw_ps(self, ps, gc, rgbFace, fill=True, stroke=True, command=None):
         write("grestore\n")
 
 
-
 class GraphicsContextPS(GraphicsContextBase):
     def get_capstyle(self):
         return {'butt':0,
@@ -901,6 +892,7 @@ def shouldstroke(self):
         return (self.get_linewidth() > 0.0 and
                 (len(self.get_rgb()) <= 3 or self.get_rgb()[3] != 0.0))
 
+
 def new_figure_manager(num, *args, **kwargs):
     FigureClass = kwargs.pop('FigureClass', Figure)
     thisFig = FigureClass(*args, **kwargs)
@@ -915,6 +907,7 @@ def new_figure_manager_given_figure(num, figure):
     manager = FigureManagerPS(canvas, num)
     return manager
 
+
 class FigureCanvasPS(FigureCanvasBase):
     _renderer_class = RendererPS
 
@@ -1412,12 +1405,13 @@ def convert_psfrags(tmpfile, psfrags, font_preamble, custom_preamble,
     epsfile = tmpfile+'.eps'
     shutil.move(tmpfile, epsfile)
     latexfile = tmpfile+'.tex'
-    outfile = tmpfile+'.output'
     dvifile = tmpfile+'.dvi'
     psfile = tmpfile+'.ps'
 
-    if orientation=='landscape': angle = 90
-    else: angle = 0
+    if orientation == 'landscape':
+        angle = 90
+    else:
+        angle = 0
 
     if rcParams['text.latex.unicode']:
         unicode_preamble = """\\usepackage{ucs}
@@ -1458,40 +1452,39 @@ def convert_psfrags(tmpfile, psfrags, font_preamble, custom_preamble,
                                "rcParam.", 'helpful')
                 raise
 
-    # the split drive part of the command is necessary for windows users with
-    # multiple
-    if sys.platform == 'win32': precmd = '%s &&'% os.path.splitdrive(tmpdir)[0]
-    else: precmd = ''
-    #Replace \\ for / so latex does not think there is a function call
+    # Replace \\ for / so latex does not think there is a function call
     latexfile = latexfile.replace("\\", "/")
     # Replace ~ so Latex does not think it is line break
     latexfile = latexfile.replace("~", "\\string~")
-    command = '%s cd "%s" && latex -interaction=nonstopmode "%s" > "%s"'\
-                %(precmd, tmpdir, latexfile, outfile)
+    command = [str("latex"), "-interaction=nonstopmode",
+               '"%s"' % latexfile]
     verbose.report(command, 'debug')
-    exit_status = os.system(command)
-
-    with io.open(outfile, 'rb') as fh:
-        if exit_status:
-            raise RuntimeError('LaTeX was not able to process your file:\
-    \nHere is the full report generated by LaTeX: \n\n%s'% fh.read())
-        else:
-            verbose.report(fh.read(), 'debug')
-    os.remove(outfile)
-
-    command = '%s cd "%s" && dvips -q -R0 -o "%s" "%s" > "%s"'%(precmd, tmpdir,
-                os.path.split(psfile)[-1], os.path.split(dvifile)[-1], outfile)
+    try:
+        report = subprocess.check_output(command, cwd=tmpdir,
+                                         stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as exc:
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            ('LaTeX was not able to process the following '
+             'file:\n%s\n\n'
+             'Here is the full report generated by LaTeX:\n%s '
+             '\n\n' % (latexfile,
+                       exc.output.decode("utf-8"))))
+    verbose.report(report, 'debug')
+
+    command = [str('dvips'), '-q', '-R0', '-o', os.path.basename(psfile),
+               os.path.basename(dvifile)]
     verbose.report(command, 'debug')
-    exit_status = os.system(command)
-
-    with io.open(outfile, 'rb') as fh:
-        if exit_status:
-            raise RuntimeError('dvips was not able to \
-    process the following file:\n%s\nHere is the full report generated by dvips: \
-    \n\n'% dvifile + fh.read())
-        else:
-            verbose.report(fh.read(), 'debug')
-    os.remove(outfile)
+    try:
+        report = subprocess.check_output(command, cwd=tmpdir,
+                                         stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as exc:
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            ('dvips was not able to process the following '
+             'file:\n%s\n\n'
+             'Here is the full report generated by dvips:\n%s '
+             '\n\n' % (dvifile,
+                       exc.output.decode("utf-8"))))
+    verbose.report(report, 'debug')
     os.remove(epsfile)
     shutil.move(psfile, tmpfile)
 
@@ -1521,39 +1514,32 @@ def gs_distill(tmpfile, eps=False, ptype='letter', bbox=None, rotated=False):
     operators. The output is low-level, converting text to outlines.
     """
 
-    if eps: paper_option = "-dEPSCrop"
-    else: paper_option = "-sPAPERSIZE=%s" % ptype
+    if eps:
+        paper_option = "-dEPSCrop"
+    else:
+        paper_option = "-sPAPERSIZE=%s" % ptype
 
     psfile = tmpfile + '.ps'
-    outfile = tmpfile + '.output'
     dpi = rcParams['ps.distiller.res']
 
-
     gs_exe = ps_backend_helper.gs_exe
     if ps_backend_helper.supports_ps2write: # gs version >= 9
         device_name = "ps2write"
     else:
         device_name = "pswrite"
 
-    command = '%s -dBATCH -dNOPAUSE -r%d -sDEVICE=%s %s -sOutputFile="%s" \
-                "%s" > "%s"'% (gs_exe, dpi, device_name,
-                               paper_option, psfile, tmpfile, outfile)
-
+    command = [str(gs_exe), "-dBATCH", "-dNOPAUSE", "-r%d" % dpi,
+               "-sDEVICE=%s" % device_name, paper_option,
+               "-sOutputFile=%s" % psfile, tmpfile]
     verbose.report(command, 'debug')
-    exit_status = os.system(command)
-
-    with io.open(outfile, 'rb') as fh:
-        if exit_status:
-            output = fh.read()
-            m = "\n".join(["ghostscript was not able to process your image.",
-                           "Here is the full report generated by ghostscript:",
-                           "",
-                           "%s"])
-            # use % to prevent problems with bytes
-            raise RuntimeError(m % output)
-        else:
-            verbose.report(fh.read(), 'debug')
-    os.remove(outfile)
+    try:
+        report = subprocess.check_output(command, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as exc:
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            ('ghostscript was not able to process your image.\n'
+             'Here is the full report generated by ghostscript:\n%s '
+             '\n\n' % exc.output.decode("utf-8")))
+    verbose.report(report, 'debug')
     os.remove(tmpfile)
     shutil.move(psfile, tmpfile)
 
@@ -1582,37 +1568,48 @@ def xpdf_distill(tmpfile, eps=False, ptype='letter', bbox=None, rotated=False):
     """
     pdffile = tmpfile + '.pdf'
     psfile = tmpfile + '.ps'
-    outfile = tmpfile + '.output'
 
-    if eps: paper_option = "-dEPSCrop"
-    else: paper_option = "-sPAPERSIZE=%s" % ptype
-
-    command = 'ps2pdf -dAutoFilterColorImages=false \
--dAutoFilterGrayImages=false -sGrayImageFilter=FlateEncode \
--sColorImageFilter=FlateEncode %s "%s" "%s" > "%s"'% \
-(paper_option, tmpfile, pdffile, outfile)
-    if sys.platform == 'win32': command = command.replace('=', '#')
-    verbose.report(command, 'debug')
-    exit_status = os.system(command)
-    with io.open(outfile, 'rb') as fh:
-        if exit_status:
-            raise RuntimeError('ps2pdf was not able to process your \
-image.\nHere is the report generated by ghostscript:\n\n' + fh.read())
+    if eps:
+        paper_option = "-dEPSCrop"
+    else:
+        if sys.platform == "win32":
+            paper_option = "-sPAPERSIZE#%s" % ptype
         else:
-            verbose.report(fh.read(), 'debug')
-    os.remove(outfile)
-    command = 'pdftops -paper match -level2 "%s" "%s" > "%s"'% \
-                (pdffile, psfile, outfile)
+            paper_option = "-sPAPERSIZE=%s" % ptype
+
+    if sys.platform == "win32":
+        command = [str("ps2pdf"), "-dAutoFilterColorImages#false",
+                   "-dAutoFilterGrayImages#false",
+                   "-sGrayImageFilter#FlateEncode",
+                   "-sColorImageFilter#FlateEncode", paper_option, tmpfile,
+                   pdffile]
+    else:
+        command = [str("ps2pdf"), "-dAutoFilterColorImages=false",
+                   "-dAutoFilterGrayImages=false",
+                   "-sGrayImageFilter=FlateEncode",
+                   "-sColorImageFilter=FlateEncode", paper_option, tmpfile,
+                   pdffile]
     verbose.report(command, 'debug')
-    exit_status = os.system(command)
 
-    with io.open(outfile, 'rb') as fh:
-        if exit_status:
-            raise RuntimeError('pdftops was not able to process your \
-image.\nHere is the full report generated by pdftops: \n\n' + fh.read())
-        else:
-            verbose.report(fh.read(), 'debug')
-    os.remove(outfile)
+    try:
+        report = subprocess.check_output(command, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as exc:
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            ('ps2pdf was not able to process your image.\n'
+             'Here is the full report generated by ps2pdf:\n%s '
+             '\n\n' % exc.output.decode("utf-8")))
+    verbose.report(report, 'debug')
+
+    command = [str("pdftops"), "-paper", "match", "-level2", pdffile, psfile]
+    verbose.report(command, 'debug')
+    try:
+        report = subprocess.check_output(command, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as exc:
+        raise RuntimeError(
+            ('pdftops was not able to process your image.\n'
+             'Here is the full report generated by pdftops:\n%s '
+             '\n\n' % exc.output.decode("utf-8")))
+    verbose.report(report, 'debug')
     os.remove(tmpfile)
     shutil.move(psfile, tmpfile)
 
@@ -1622,6 +1619,7 @@ def xpdf_distill(tmpfile, eps=False, ptype='letter', bbox=None, rotated=False):
     for fname in glob.glob(tmpfile+'.*'):
         os.remove(fname)
 
+
 def get_bbox_header(lbrt, rotated=False):
     """
     return a postscript header stringfor the given bbox lbrt=(l, b, r, t).
@@ -1629,7 +1627,7 @@ def get_bbox_header(lbrt, rotated=False):
     """
 
     l, b, r, t = lbrt
-    if  rotated:
+    if rotated:
         rotate = "%.2f %.2f  translate\n90 rotate" % (l+r, 0)
     else:
         rotate = ""
@@ -1643,16 +1641,18 @@ def get_bbox_header(lbrt, rotated=False):
 # find the bounding box, as the required bounding box is alread known.
 def get_bbox(tmpfile, bbox):
     """
-    Use ghostscript's bbox device to find the center of the bounding box. Return
-    an appropriately sized bbox centered around that point. A bit of a hack.
+    Use ghostscript's bbox device to find the center of the bounding box.
+    Return an appropriately sized bbox centered around that point. A bit of a
+    hack.
     """
 
-    outfile = tmpfile + '.output'
     gs_exe = ps_backend_helper.gs_exe
-    command = '%s -dBATCH -dNOPAUSE -sDEVICE=bbox "%s"' %\
-                (gs_exe, tmpfile)
+    command = [gs_exe, "-dBATCH", "-dNOPAUSE", "-sDEVICE=bbox" "%s" % tmpfile]
     verbose.report(command, 'debug')
-    stdin, stdout, stderr = os.popen3(command)
+    p = subprocess.Popen(command, stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
+                         stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+                         close_fds=True)
+    (stdout, stderr) = (p.stdout, p.stderr)
     verbose.report(stdout.read(), 'debug-annoying')
     bbox_info = stderr.read()
     verbose.report(bbox_info, 'helpful')
@@ -1661,7 +1661,7 @@ def get_bbox(tmpfile, bbox):
         bbox_info = bbox_found.group()
     else:
         raise RuntimeError('Ghostscript was not able to extract a bounding box.\
-Here is the Ghostscript output:\n\n%s'% bbox_info)
+Here is the Ghostscript output:\n\n%s' % bbox_info)
     l, b, r, t = [float(i) for i in bbox_info.split()[-4:]]
 
     # this is a hack to deal with the fact that ghostscript does not return the
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/texmanager.py b/lib/matplotlib/texmanager.py
index 5ad793057468..8eae5fcc51a6 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/texmanager.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/texmanager.py
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
 from matplotlib import rcParams
 from matplotlib._png import read_png
 from matplotlib.cbook import mkdirs, Locked
-from matplotlib.compat.subprocess import Popen, PIPE, STDOUT
+from matplotlib.compat.subprocess import subprocess, Popen, PIPE, STDOUT
 import matplotlib.dviread as dviread
 import re
 
@@ -263,18 +263,6 @@ def get_custom_preamble(self):
         """returns a string containing user additions to the tex preamble"""
         return '\n'.join(rcParams['text.latex.preamble'])
 
-    def _get_shell_cmd(self, *args):
-        """
-        On windows, changing directories can be complicated by the presence of
-        multiple drives. get_shell_cmd deals with this issue.
-        """
-        if sys.platform == 'win32':
-            command = ['%s' % os.path.splitdrive(self.texcache)[0]]
-        else:
-            command = []
-        command.extend(args)
-        return ' && '.join(command)
-
     def make_tex(self, tex, fontsize):
         """
         Generate a tex file to render the tex string at a specific font size
@@ -327,7 +315,7 @@ def make_tex(self, tex, fontsize):
     def make_tex_preview(self, tex, fontsize):
         """
         Generate a tex file to render the tex string at a specific
-        font size.  It uses the preview.sty to determin the dimension
+        font size. It uses the preview.sty to determine the dimension
         (width, height, descent) of the output.
 
         returns the file name
@@ -397,31 +385,21 @@ def make_dvi(self, tex, fontsize):
 
         if DEBUG or not os.path.exists(dvifile):
             texfile = self.make_tex(tex, fontsize)
-            outfile = basefile + '.output'
-            command = self._get_shell_cmd(
-                'cd "%s"' % self.texcache,
-                'latex -interaction=nonstopmode %s > "%s"' %
-                (os.path.split(texfile)[-1], outfile))
+            command = [str("latex"), "-interaction=nonstopmode",
+                       os.path.basename(texfile)]
             mpl.verbose.report(command, 'debug')
             with Locked(self.texcache):
-                exit_status = os.system(command)
-            try:
-                with open(outfile) as fh:
-                    report = fh.read()
-            except IOError:
-                report = 'No latex error report available.'
-            try:
-                os.stat(dvifile)
-                exists = True
-            except OSError:
-                exists = False
-            if exit_status or not exists:
-                raise RuntimeError(
-                    ('LaTeX was not able to process the following '
-                     'string:\n%s\nHere is the full report generated by '
-                     'LaTeX: \n\n' % repr(tex.encode('unicode_escape')) +
-                     report))
-            else:
+                try:
+                    report = subprocess.check_output(command,
+                                                     cwd=self.texcache,
+                                                     stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+                except subprocess.CalledProcessError as exc:
+                    raise RuntimeError(
+                        ('LaTeX was not able to process the following '
+                         'string:\n%s\n\n'
+                         'Here is the full report generated by LaTeX:\n%s '
+                         '\n\n' % (repr(tex.encode('unicode_escape')),
+                                   exc.output.decode("utf-8"))))
                 mpl.verbose.report(report, 'debug')
             for fname in glob.glob(basefile + '*'):
                 if fname.endswith('dvi'):
@@ -451,30 +429,25 @@ def make_dvi_preview(self, tex, fontsize):
         if (DEBUG or not os.path.exists(dvifile) or
                 not os.path.exists(baselinefile)):
             texfile = self.make_tex_preview(tex, fontsize)
-            outfile = basefile + '.output'
-            command = self._get_shell_cmd(
-                'cd "%s"' % self.texcache,
-                'latex -interaction=nonstopmode %s > "%s"' %
-                (os.path.split(texfile)[-1], outfile))
+            command = [str("latex"), "-interaction=nonstopmode",
+                       os.path.basename(texfile)]
             mpl.verbose.report(command, 'debug')
-            exit_status = os.system(command)
             try:
-                with open(outfile) as fh:
-                    report = fh.read()
-
-            except IOError:
-                report = 'No latex error report available.'
-            if exit_status:
+                report = subprocess.check_output(command,
+                                                 cwd=self.texcache,
+                                                 stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+            except subprocess.CalledProcessError as exc:
                 raise RuntimeError(
                     ('LaTeX was not able to process the following '
-                     'string:\n%s\nHere is the full report generated by '
-                     'LaTeX: \n\n' % repr(tex)) + report)
-            else:
-                mpl.verbose.report(report, 'debug')
+                     'string:\n%s\n\n'
+                     'Here is the full report generated by LaTeX:\n%s '
+                     '\n\n' % (repr(tex.encode('unicode_escape')),
+                               exc.output.decode("utf-8"))))
+            mpl.verbose.report(report, 'debug')
 
             # find the box extent information in the latex output
             # file and store them in ".baseline" file
-            m = TexManager._re_vbox.search(report)
+            m = TexManager._re_vbox.search(report.decode("utf-8"))
             with open(basefile + '.baseline', "w") as fh:
                 fh.write(" ".join(m.groups()))
 
@@ -505,30 +478,22 @@ def make_png(self, tex, fontsize, dpi):
         # see get_rgba for a discussion of the background
         if DEBUG or not os.path.exists(pngfile):
             dvifile = self.make_dvi(tex, fontsize)
-            outfile = basefile + '.output'
-            command = self._get_shell_cmd(
-                'cd "%s"' % self.texcache,
-                'dvipng -bg Transparent -D %s -T tight -o "%s" "%s" > "%s"' %
-                (dpi, os.path.split(pngfile)[-1],
-                os.path.split(dvifile)[-1], outfile))
+            command = [str("dvipng"), "-bg", "Transparent", "-D", str(dpi),
+                       "-T", "tight", "-o", os.path.basename(pngfile),
+                       os.path.basename(dvifile)]
             mpl.verbose.report(command, 'debug')
-            exit_status = os.system(command)
             try:
-                with open(outfile) as fh:
-                    report = fh.read()
-            except IOError:
-                report = 'No dvipng error report available.'
-            if exit_status:
+                report = subprocess.check_output(command,
+                                                 cwd=self.texcache,
+                                                 stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+            except subprocess.CalledProcessError as exc:
                 raise RuntimeError(
-                    'dvipng was not able to process the following '
-                    'file:\n%s\nHere is the full report generated by '
-                    'dvipng: \n\n' % dvifile + report)
-            else:
-                mpl.verbose.report(report, 'debug')
-            try:
-                os.remove(outfile)
-            except OSError:
-                pass
+                    ('dvipng was not able to process the following '
+                     'string:\n%s\n\n'
+                     'Here is the full report generated by dvipng:\n%s '
+                     '\n\n' % (repr(tex.encode('unicode_escape')),
+                               exc.output.decode("utf-8"))))
+            mpl.verbose.report(report, 'debug')
 
         return pngfile
 
@@ -543,23 +508,22 @@ def make_ps(self, tex, fontsize):
 
         if DEBUG or not os.path.exists(psfile):
             dvifile = self.make_dvi(tex, fontsize)
-            outfile = basefile + '.output'
-            command = self._get_shell_cmd(
-                'cd "%s"' % self.texcache,
-                'dvips -q -E -o "%s" "%s" > "%s"' %
-                (os.path.split(psfile)[-1],
-                 os.path.split(dvifile)[-1], outfile))
+            command = [str("dvips"), "-q", "-E", "-o",
+                       os.path.basename(psfile),
+                       os.path.basename(dvifile)]
             mpl.verbose.report(command, 'debug')
-            exit_status = os.system(command)
-            with open(outfile) as fh:
-                if exit_status:
-                    raise RuntimeError(
-                        'dvipng was not able to process the flowing '
-                        'file:\n%s\nHere is the full report generated by '
-                        'dvipng: \n\n' % dvifile + fh.read())
-                else:
-                    mpl.verbose.report(fh.read(), 'debug')
-            os.remove(outfile)
+            try:
+                report = subprocess.check_output(command,
+                                                 cwd=self.texcache,
+                                                 stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+            except subprocess.CalledProcessError as exc:
+                raise RuntimeError(
+                    ('dvips was not able to process the following '
+                     'string:\n%s\n\n'
+                     'Here is the full report generated by dvips:\n%s '
+                     '\n\n' % (repr(tex.encode('unicode_escape')),
+                               exc.output.decode("utf-8"))))
+            mpl.verbose.report(report, 'debug')
 
         return psfile
 
diff --git a/tools/subset.py b/tools/subset.py
index 97441c2cfa47..7a17cc22bd14 100644
--- a/tools/subset.py
+++ b/tools/subset.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import sys
 import getopt
 import os
+import subprocess
 import struct
 
 def log_namelist(nam, unicode):
@@ -145,7 +146,7 @@ def subset_font_raw(font_in, font_out, unicodes, opts):
     if pe:
         print('Generate("' + font_out + '")', file=pe)
         pe.close()
-        os.system("fontforge -script " + pe_fn)
+        subprocess.call(["fontforge", "-script", pe_fn])
     else:
         font.generate(font_out, flags = flags)
     font.close()