diff --git a/scripts/deploy-backend.sh b/scripts/deploy-backend.sh
index 97df1a3bc..38823c39b 100755
--- a/scripts/deploy-backend.sh
+++ b/scripts/deploy-backend.sh
@@ -148,15 +148,15 @@ update_backend()
 
 check_app_health() {
     #check if the backend is up and running
-    cf_cmd="cf a | grep -q "$CGAPPNAME_BACKEND" | awk '{print $2}' | grep "started" | wc -l"
-    app_status=$cf_cmd
+    cf_cmd="cf a | grep \"$CGAPPNAME_BACKEND\" | grep -c \"started\""
+    app_status=exec $cf_cmd
 
     #TODO: implement wait loop and then 10m timeout, need to catch perma-staging
     cf_logs_cmd="cf logs $CGAPPNAME_BACKEND --recent| grep -q 'Starting gunicorn' && echo $?"
-    log_status=$cf_logs_cmd
+    log_status=exec $cf_logs_cmd
 
     cf_traceback_cmd="cf logs $CGAPPNAME_BACKEND --recent | grep -q 'Traceback .most recent call last.:' && echo $?"
-    cf_traceback_count=$cf_traceback_cmd
+    cf_traceback_count=exec $cf_traceback_cmd
 
     if [ "$app_status" -eq 0 ] || [ $log_status -eq 1]; then
         echo "App $CGAPPNAME_BACKEND is not running. Exiting."