diff --git a/lib/stripe.rb b/lib/stripe.rb
index 4e5df9d0..4e15f774 100644
--- a/lib/stripe.rb
+++ b/lib/stripe.rb
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ module Stripe
   end
 
   def self.user_agent
-    @uname ||= `uname -a 2>/dev/null`.strip if RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /linux|darwin/i
+    @uname ||= get_uname
     lang_version = "#{RUBY_VERSION} p#{RUBY_PATCHLEVEL} (#{RUBY_RELEASE_DATE})"
 
     {
@@ -154,6 +154,12 @@ module Stripe
 
   end
 
+  def self.get_uname
+    `uname -a 2>/dev/null`.strip if RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /linux|darwin/i
+  rescue Errno::ENOMEM => ex # couldn't create subprocess
+    "uname lookup failed"
+  end
+
   def self.uri_encode(params)
     Util.flatten_params(params).
       map { |k,v| "#{k}=#{Util.url_encode(v)}" }.join('&')