diff --git a/src/devices/nm-device.c b/src/devices/nm-device.c
index 34b73d065c..0de28ed0f4 100644
--- a/src/devices/nm-device.c
+++ b/src/devices/nm-device.c
@@ -5060,20 +5060,9 @@ nm_device_activate_schedule_ip6_config_timeout (NMDevice *self)
 	_LOGD (LOGD_DEVICE | LOGD_IP6, "Activation: Stage 4 of 5 (IPv6 Configure Timeout) scheduled...");
 }
 
-static void
-share_child_setup (gpointer user_data G_GNUC_UNUSED)
-{
-	/* We are in the child process at this point */
-	pid_t pid = getpid ();
-	setpgid (pid, pid);
-
-	nm_unblock_posix_signals (NULL);
-}
-
 static gboolean
 share_init (void)
 {
-	int status;
 	char *modules[] = { "ip_tables", "iptable_nat", "nf_nat_ftp", "nf_nat_irc",
 	                    "nf_nat_sip", "nf_nat_tftp", "nf_nat_pptp", "nf_nat_h323",
 	                    NULL };
@@ -5093,20 +5082,8 @@ share_init (void)
 		            errsv, strerror (errsv));
 	}
 
-	for (iter = modules; *iter; iter++) {
-		char *argv[3] = { "/sbin/modprobe", *iter, NULL };
-		char *envp[1] = { NULL };
-		GError *error = NULL;
-
-		if (!g_spawn_sync ("/", argv, envp, G_SPAWN_STDOUT_TO_DEV_NULL | G_SPAWN_STDERR_TO_DEV_NULL,
-		                   share_child_setup, NULL, NULL, NULL, &status, &error)) {
-			nm_log_err (LOGD_SHARING, "share: error loading NAT module %s: (%d) %s",
-			            *iter, error ? error->code : 0,
-			            (error && error->message) ? error->message : "unknown");
-			if (error)
-				g_error_free (error);
-		}
-	}
+	for (iter = modules; *iter; iter++)
+		nm_utils_modprobe (NULL, *iter, NULL);
 
 	return TRUE;
 }
diff --git a/src/platform/nm-linux-platform.c b/src/platform/nm-linux-platform.c
index 924d8b5d93..98cd7cc953 100644
--- a/src/platform/nm-linux-platform.c
+++ b/src/platform/nm-linux-platform.c
@@ -2272,7 +2272,6 @@ build_rtnl_link (int ifindex, const char *name, NMLinkType type)
 static gboolean
 link_add (NMPlatform *platform, const char *name, NMLinkType type, const void *address, size_t address_len)
 {
-	int r;
 	struct nl_object *l;
 
 	if (type == NM_LINK_TYPE_BOND) {
@@ -2284,8 +2283,7 @@ link_add (NMPlatform *platform, const char *name, NMLinkType type, const void *a
 		 * bond0 automatically.
 		 */
 		if (!g_file_test ("/sys/class/net/bonding_masters", G_FILE_TEST_EXISTS))
-			/* Ignore return value to shut up the compiler */
-			r = system ("modprobe bonding max_bonds=0");
+			nm_utils_modprobe (NULL, "bonding", "max_bonds=0", NULL);
 	}
 
 	debug ("link: add link '%s' of type '%s' (%d)",
diff --git a/src/ppp-manager/nm-ppp-manager.c b/src/ppp-manager/nm-ppp-manager.c
index a7c42ad359..791296590b 100644
--- a/src/ppp-manager/nm-ppp-manager.c
+++ b/src/ppp-manager/nm-ppp-manager.c
@@ -1087,7 +1087,6 @@ nm_ppp_manager_start (NMPPPManager *manager,
 	NMCmdLine *ppp_cmd;
 	char *cmd_str;
 	struct stat st;
-	int ignored;
 
 	g_return_val_if_fail (NM_IS_PPP_MANAGER (manager), FALSE);
 	g_return_val_if_fail (NM_IS_ACT_REQUEST (req), FALSE);
@@ -1107,7 +1106,7 @@ nm_ppp_manager_start (NMPPPManager *manager,
 
 	/* Make sure /dev/ppp exists (bgo #533064) */
 	if (stat ("/dev/ppp", &st) || !S_ISCHR (st.st_mode))
-		ignored = system ("/sbin/modprobe ppp_generic");
+		nm_utils_modprobe (NULL, "ppp_generic", NULL);
 
 	connection = nm_act_request_get_connection (req);
 	g_assert (connection);