diff --git a/lib/grit.rb b/lib/grit.rb
index 6afcf64..9e78ddf 100644
--- a/lib/grit.rb
+++ b/lib/grit.rb
@@ -5,12 +5,10 @@ require 'fileutils'
 require 'time'
 
 # stdlib
-require 'timeout'
 
 # third party
 require 'rubygems'
 require 'mime/types'
-require 'open4'
 
 # internal requires
 require 'grit/lazy'
diff --git a/lib/grit/git.rb b/lib/grit/git.rb
index ad42ff5..61919df 100644
--- a/lib/grit/git.rb
+++ b/lib/grit/git.rb
@@ -1,36 +1,18 @@
-trap("CHLD") do
-  begin
-    Process.wait(-1, Process::WNOHANG)
-  rescue Object
-  end
-end
-
 module Grit
   
   class Git
-    class GitTimeout < RuntimeError
-      attr_reader :command, :bytes_read
-
-      def initialize(command = nil, bytes_read = nil)
-        @command = command
-        @bytes_read = bytes_read
-      end
-    end
-
     undef_method :clone
     
     class << self
-      attr_accessor :git_binary, :git_timeout
+      attr_accessor :git_binary
     end
   
-    self.git_binary  = "/usr/bin/env git"
-    self.git_timeout = 5
+    self.git_binary = "/usr/bin/env git"
     
-    attr_accessor :git_dir, :bytes_read
+    attr_accessor :git_dir
     
     def initialize(git_dir)
-      self.git_dir    = git_dir
-      self.bytes_read = 0
+      self.git_dir = git_dir
     end
     
     # Run the given git command with the specified arguments and return
@@ -44,43 +26,16 @@ module Grit
     #
     # Returns String
     def method_missing(cmd, options = {}, *args)
-      timeout  = options.delete(:timeout)
-      timeout  = true if timeout.nil?
-
       opt_args = transform_options(options)
       ext_args = args.map { |a| a == '--' ? a : "'#{a}'" }
       
       call = "#{Git.git_binary} --git-dir='#{self.git_dir}' #{cmd.to_s.gsub(/_/, '-')} #{(opt_args + ext_args).join(' ')}"
       puts call if Grit.debug
-      response = timeout ? sh(call) : wild_sh(call)
+      response = `#{call}`
       puts response if Grit.debug
       response
     end
-
-    def sh(command)
-      pid, _, io, _ = Open4.popen4(command)
-      ret = Timeout.timeout(self.class.git_timeout) { io.read }
-      @bytes_read += ret.size
-
-      if @bytes_read > 5242880 # 5.megabytes
-        bytes = @bytes_read
-        @bytes_read = 0
-        raise GitTimeout.new(command, bytes) 
-      end
-
-      ret
-    rescue Object => e
-      Process.kill('KILL', pid) rescue nil
-      bytes = @bytes_read
-      @bytes_read = 0
-      raise GitTimeout.new(command, bytes)
-    end
-
-    def wild_sh(command)
-      pid, _, io, _ = Open4.popen4(command)
-      io.read
-    end
-
+    
     # Transform Ruby style options into git command line options
     #   +options+ is a hash of Ruby style options
     #
@@ -109,4 +64,4 @@ module Grit
     end
   end # Git
   
-end # Grit
+end # Grit
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/grit/head.rb b/lib/grit/head.rb
index 6865bf0..86f29c2 100644
--- a/lib/grit/head.rb
+++ b/lib/grit/head.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 module Grit
-  HEAD_PREFIX = 'refs/heads'
   
   # A Head is a named reference to a Commit. Every Head instance contains a name
   # and a Commit object.
@@ -34,7 +33,7 @@ module Grit
                          
       actual_options = default_options.merge(options)
       
-      output = repo.git.for_each_ref(actual_options, HEAD_PREFIX)
+      output = repo.git.for_each_ref(actual_options, "refs/heads")
                  
       self.list_from_string(repo, output)
     end
@@ -78,7 +77,7 @@ module Grit
     # Returns Grit::Head (baked)
     def self.from_string(repo, line)
       full_name, id = line.split("\0")
-      name = full_name.sub("#{HEAD_PREFIX}/", '')
+      name = full_name.split("/").last
       commit = Commit.create(repo, :id => id)
       self.new(name, commit)
     end
diff --git a/test/fixtures/for_each_ref b/test/fixtures/for_each_ref
index 9f3bece..e56f526 100644
Binary files a/test/fixtures/for_each_ref and b/test/fixtures/for_each_ref differ
diff --git a/test/test_git.rb b/test/test_git.rb
index adbdc6d..dcc5fdc 100644
--- a/test/test_git.rb
+++ b/test/test_git.rb
@@ -18,35 +18,4 @@ class TestGit < Test::Unit::TestCase
     
     assert_equal ["-s", "-t"], @git.transform_options({:s => true, :t => true}).sort
   end
-
-  def test_uses_custom_sh_method
-    @git.expects(:sh)
-    @git.something
-  end
-
-  def test_can_skip_timeout
-    @git.expects(:wild_sh)
-    @git.something(:timeout => false)
-  end
-
-  def test_raises_if_too_many_bytes
-    @git.instance_variable_set(:@bytes_read, 6000000)
-    assert_raises Grit::Git::GitTimeout do
-      @git.something
-    end
-  end
-
-  def test_raises_on_slow_shell
-    Grit::Git.git_timeout = 0.5
-    Open4.expects(:popen4).returns([ nil, nil, mock(:read => proc { sleep 1 }), nil ])
-    assert_raises Grit::Git::GitTimeout do
-      @git.something
-    end
-  end
-
-  def test_works_fine_if_quick
-    output = 'output'
-    Open4.expects(:popen4).returns([ nil, nil, mock(:read => output), nil ])
-    assert_equal output, @git.something
-  end
 end
diff --git a/test/test_head.rb b/test/test_head.rb
index baaae85..6b97822 100644
--- a/test/test_head.rb
+++ b/test/test_head.rb
@@ -3,20 +3,15 @@ require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/helper'
 class TestHead < Test::Unit::TestCase
   def setup
     @r = Repo.new(GRIT_REPO)
-    Git.any_instance.expects(:for_each_ref).returns(fixture('for_each_ref'))
   end
   
   # inspect
   
   def test_inspect
+    Git.any_instance.expects(:for_each_ref).returns(fixture('for_each_ref'))
+    
     head = @r.heads.first
+    
     assert_equal %Q{#<Grit::Head "#{head.name}">}, head.inspect
   end
-
-  # heads with slashes
-
-  def test_heads_with_slashes
-    head = @r.heads.last
-    assert_equal %Q{#<Grit::Head "mojombo/master">}, head.inspect
-  end
-end
+end
\ No newline at end of file