diff --git a/nixos/modules/system/boot/stage-1-init.sh b/nixos/modules/system/boot/stage-1-init.sh
index 3bc33a20a09f..2f9c53efbe1f 100644
--- a/nixos/modules/system/boot/stage-1-init.sh
+++ b/nixos/modules/system/boot/stage-1-init.sh
@@ -554,7 +554,7 @@ echo /sbin/modprobe > /proc/sys/kernel/modprobe
 # Start stage 2.  `switch_root' deletes all files in the ramfs on the
 # current root.  Note that $stage2Init might be an absolute symlink,
 # in which case "-e" won't work because we're not in the chroot yet.
-if ! test -e "$targetRoot/$stage2Init" -o ! -L "$targetRoot/$stage2Init"; then
+if [ ! -e "$targetRoot/$stage2Init" ] && [ ! -L "$targetRoot/$stage2Init" ] ; then
     echo "stage 2 init script ($targetRoot/$stage2Init) not found"
     fail
 fi