diff --git a/sbin/newfs/newfs.c b/sbin/newfs/newfs.c
index 81dd7a14c67e..cc86950a2500 100644
--- a/sbin/newfs/newfs.c
+++ b/sbin/newfs/newfs.c
@@ -406,11 +406,9 @@ main(argc, argv)
 	cp = strrchr(special, '/');
 	if (cp == 0) {
 		/*
-		 * No path prefix; try /dev/r%s then /dev/%s.
+		 * No path prefix; try /dev/%s.
 		 */
-		(void)sprintf(device, "%sr%s", _PATH_DEV, special);
-		if (stat(device, &st) == -1)
-			(void)sprintf(device, "%s%s", _PATH_DEV, special);
+		(void)sprintf(device, "%s%s", _PATH_DEV, special);
 		special = device;
 	}
 	if (Nflag) {