diff --git a/fs/autofs4/dev-ioctl.c b/fs/autofs4/dev-ioctl.c
index 3dfd615..aa9103f 100644
--- a/fs/autofs4/dev-ioctl.c
+++ b/fs/autofs4/dev-ioctl.c
@@ -376,7 +376,7 @@
 			err = -EBADF;
 			goto out;
 		}
-		if (!pipe->f_op || !pipe->f_op->write) {
+		if (autofs_prepare_pipe(pipe) < 0) {
 			err = -EPIPE;
 			fput(pipe);
 			goto out;