diff --git a/qa/workunits/cephadm/test_cephadm.sh b/qa/workunits/cephadm/test_cephadm.sh
index 973d2c18a16..c723e87b23f 100755
--- a/qa/workunits/cephadm/test_cephadm.sh
+++ b/qa/workunits/cephadm/test_cephadm.sh
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ $SUDO $CEPHADM_BIN --image $IMAGE_MIMIC version \
 $SUDO $CEPHADM_BIN --image $IMAGE_MASTER version | grep 'ceph version'
 
 # try force docker; this won't work if docker isn't installed
-which docker && ( $CEPHADM --docker version | grep 'ceph version' )
+systemctl status docker && ( $CEPHADM --docker version | grep 'ceph version' )
 
 ## test shell before bootstrap, when crash dir isn't (yet) present on this host
 $CEPHADM shell --fsid $FSID -- ceph -v | grep 'ceph version'