diff --git a/meta/lib/oeqa/runtime/cases/oe_syslog.py b/meta/lib/oeqa/runtime/cases/oe_syslog.py
index f3c2bedbaf9..150b70d9f03 100644
--- a/meta/lib/oeqa/runtime/cases/oe_syslog.py
+++ b/meta/lib/oeqa/runtime/cases/oe_syslog.py
@@ -121,11 +121,16 @@ class SyslogTestConfig(OERuntimeTestCase):
 
         self.test_syslog_restart()
 
-        cmd = 'logger foobar && grep foobar /var/log/test'
-        status,output = self.target.run(cmd)
-        msg = 'Test log string not found. Output: %s ' % output
+        cmd = 'logger foobar'
+        status, output = self.target.run(cmd)
+        msg = 'Logger command failed, %s. Output: %s ' % (status, output)
         self.assertEqual(status, 0, msg=msg)
 
+        cmd = 'cat /var/log/test'
+        status, output = self.target.run(cmd)
+        if "foobar" not in output or status:
+            self.fail("'foobar' not found in logfile, status %s, contents %s" % (status, output))
+
         cmd = "sed -i 's#LOGFILE=/var/log/test##' /etc/syslog-startup.conf"
         self.target.run(cmd)
         self.test_syslog_restart()