diff --git a/t/t5520-pull.sh b/t/t5520-pull.sh
index 7bb9031140..0ca4867e96 100755
--- a/t/t5520-pull.sh
+++ b/t/t5520-pull.sh
@@ -699,7 +699,8 @@ test_expect_success 'git pull --rebase does not reapply old patches' '
 	(
 		cd dst &&
 		test_must_fail git pull --rebase &&
-		test 1 = $(find .git/rebase-apply -name "000*" | wc -l)
+		find .git/rebase-apply -name "000*" >patches &&
+		test_line_count = 1 patches
 	)
 '