diff --git a/src/olpc/datastore/bin_copy.py b/src/olpc/datastore/bin_copy.py
index 6cf7036..a38b395 100644
--- a/src/olpc/datastore/bin_copy.py
+++ b/src/olpc/datastore/bin_copy.py
@@ -3,14 +3,12 @@ import os, subprocess
 
 def bin_copy(src, dest):
-    try:
-        subprocess.check_call(['/bin/cp', src, dest])
-    except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
+    retcode = subprocess.call(['/bin/cp', src, dest])
+    if retcode:
         raise OSError("Copy failed %s %s" % (src, dest))
 
 def bin_mv(src, dest):
-    try:
-        subprocess.check_call(['/bin/mv', src, dest])
-    except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
+    retcode = subprocess.call(['/bin/mv', src, dest])
+    if retcode:
         raise OSError("Move failed %s %s" % (src, dest))
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":