diff --git a/cmd/mount_zfs/mount_zfs.c b/cmd/mount_zfs/mount_zfs.c
index e97b2b8a5f88..7173f5698f51 100644
--- a/cmd/mount_zfs/mount_zfs.c
+++ b/cmd/mount_zfs/mount_zfs.c
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ mtab_is_writeable(void)
 	struct stat st;
 	int error, fd;
 
-	error = stat(MNTTAB, &st);
+	error = lstat(MNTTAB, &st);
 	if (error || S_ISLNK(st.st_mode))
 		return (0);