diff --git a/lustre/tests/sanity.sh b/lustre/tests/sanity.sh
index 719778008a64f03cca7373f740b3ae7bc68993de..d8485224376b242db752540a5a0b2dcc33926968 100644
--- a/lustre/tests/sanity.sh
+++ b/lustre/tests/sanity.sh
@@ -3888,6 +3888,7 @@ test_116() {
 
 	# now fill using QOS
 	echo writing a bunch of files to QOS-assigned OSTs
+	$SETSTRIPE $DIR/$tdir 0 -1 1
 	i=1
 	while [ $FILL -gt 0 ]; do
 	    dd if=/dev/zero of=$DIR/$tdir/$tfile-$i bs=1024 count=200 2>/dev/null