diff --git a/utils/aa-remove-unknown b/utils/aa-remove-unknown
index 4ec489255..352d8c265 100755
--- a/utils/aa-remove-unknown
+++ b/utils/aa-remove-unknown
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ fi
 # We have to do this check because error checking awk's getline() below is
 # tricky and, as is, results in an infinite loop when apparmorfs returns an
 # error from open().
-if ! IFS= read -r _ < "$PROFILES" ; then
+if ! true < "$PROFILES" ; then
 	echo "ERROR: Unable to read apparmorfs profiles file" 1>&2
 	exit 1
 elif [ ! -w "$REMOVE" ] ; then