diff --git a/lustre/tests/sanity.sh b/lustre/tests/sanity.sh
index 6ef903ceda9eb5e6b8189b5aaa535ebc93f2cdeb..260c4c4fdca071b0b18088ce52774bf25bfa56ee 100644
--- a/lustre/tests/sanity.sh
+++ b/lustre/tests/sanity.sh
@@ -2347,7 +2347,7 @@ test_54e() {
 	check_kernel_version 46 || return 0
 	f="$DIR/f54e"
 	string="aaaaaa"
-	mknod $f c 5 0
+	cp -aL /dev/console $f
 	echo $string > $f || error
 }
 run_test 54e "console/tty device works in lustre ======================"