diff --git a/extensions/git/src/repository.ts b/extensions/git/src/repository.ts
index 71fe3eeecab48164c235b493d7ddbe3a680a1bb9..e58cd47a39f4bb8037f334fa61ffaa0f8938828c 100644
--- a/extensions/git/src/repository.ts
+++ b/extensions/git/src/repository.ts
@@ -756,15 +756,17 @@ export class Repository implements Disposable {
 					return Promise.resolve(new Set<string>());
 				}
 
-				const child = this.repository.stream(['check-ignore', ...filePaths]);
+				// https://git-scm.com/docs/git-check-ignore#git-check-ignore--z
+				const child = this.repository.stream(['check-ignore', '-z', '--stdin'], { stdio: [null, null, null] });
+				child.stdin.end(filePaths.join('\0'), 'utf8');
 
 				const onExit = (exitCode: number) => {
 					if (exitCode === 1) {
 						// nothing ignored
 						resolve(new Set<string>());
 					} else if (exitCode === 0) {
-						// each line is something ignored
-						resolve(new Set<string>(data.split('\n')));
+						// paths are separated by the null-character
+						resolve(new Set<string>(data.split('\0')));
 					} else {
 						reject(new GitError({ stdout: data, stderr, exitCode }));
 					}