diff --git a/bin/tests/system/statschannel/tests.sh b/bin/tests/system/statschannel/tests.sh
index afe941e2da..b13e33022f 100644
--- a/bin/tests/system/statschannel/tests.sh
+++ b/bin/tests/system/statschannel/tests.sh
@@ -714,10 +714,10 @@ n=$((n + 1))
 _wait_for_transfers() {
     getxfrins xml x$n || return 1
     getxfrins json j$n || return 1
-    # XML is encoded in one line, use sed to separate each transfer
-    count=$(sed 's/<xfrin /\n<xfrin /g' xfrins.xml.x$n | grep -c '<state>\(Zone Transfer Request\|First Data\|Receiving AXFR Data\)</state>')
+    # XML is encoded in one line, use awk to separate each transfer with a newline
+    count=$(awk '{ gsub("<xfrin ", "\n<xfrin ") } 1' xfrins.xml.x$n | grep -c -E '<state>(Zone Transfer Request|First Data|Receiving AXFR Data)</state>')
     if [ $count != 3 ]; then return 1; fi
-    count=$(grep -c '"state":"\(Zone Transfer Request\|First Data\|Receiving AXFR Data\)"' xfrins.json.j$n)
+    count=$(grep -c -E '"state":"(Zone Transfer Request|First Data|Receiving AXFR Data)"' xfrins.json.j$n)
     if [ $count != 3 ]; then return 1; fi
 }