diff --git a/src/git/cli.ts b/src/git/cli.ts
index daaca02..176f82e 100644
--- a/src/git/cli.ts
+++ b/src/git/cli.ts
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ async function _diffIndex(
     "--find-renames",
     "--find-copies",
     "--no-color",
+    "-z",
     ...options,
     "HEAD",
   ];
@@ -53,7 +54,7 @@ async function _diffIndex(
     console.debug(`stderr for 'git ${cmd}' command:`, stderr);
   }
 
-  const lines = stdout.split("\n");
+  const lines = stdout.split("\0");
 
   return lines.filter(line => line !== "");
 }
diff --git a/src/git/parseOutput.ts b/src/git/parseOutput.ts
index 8924c5b..9a13500 100644
--- a/src/git/parseOutput.ts
+++ b/src/git/parseOutput.ts
@@ -54,10 +54,12 @@ export function parseStatus(line: string): FileChange {
  * than `undefined`).
  */
 export function parseDiffIndex(line: string): FileChange {
+  // this was failing for some reason
+  // adding logging helps otherwise it is swallowed
   if (line.length <= 4) {
-    throw new Error(
-      `Invalid input. Input string must be at least 4 characters. Got: '${line}'`,
-    );
+    const errorMsg = `Invalid input. Input string must be at least 4 characters. Got: '${line}'`;
+    console.error(errorMsg);
+    throw new Error(errorMsg);
   }
   const x = line[0];
   const y = UNMODIFIED;