diff --git a/manbat b/manbat
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..00c6afa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/manbat
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+prg="$1"
+shift
+
+# mandoc passes a file name, other tools write to stdout
+# using `cat "$@"` we take care of both reading from file and stdin
+exec cat "$@" | col -bx | $prg --language man --style plain
diff --git a/zsh-bat.plugin.zsh b/zsh-bat.plugin.zsh
index 9cadeb8..68fd6dd 100644
--- a/zsh-bat.plugin.zsh
+++ b/zsh-bat.plugin.zsh
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+BASEDIR=$(dirname "$0")
 
 if command -v batcat >/dev/null 2>&1; then
   # Save the original system `cat` under `rcat`
@@ -6,12 +7,12 @@ if command -v batcat >/dev/null 2>&1; then
   # For Ubuntu and Debian-based `bat` packages
   # the `bat` program is named `batcat` on these systems
   alias cat=$(which batcat)
-  export MANPAGER="sh -c 'col -bx | batcat -l man -p'"
+  export MANPAGER="$BASEDIR/manbat batcat"
 elif command -v bat >/dev/null 2>&1; then
   # Save the original system `cat` under `rcat`
   alias rcat=$(which cat)
 
   # For all other systems
   alias cat=$(which bat)
-  export MANPAGER="sh -c 'col -bx | bat -l man -p'"
+  export MANPAGER="$BASEDIR/manbat bat"
 fi