diff --git a/tests/checks/init-unreadable-cwd.fish b/tests/checks/init-unreadable-cwd.fish
index 8c9e69dc1..9655c8395 100644
--- a/tests/checks/init-unreadable-cwd.fish
+++ b/tests/checks/init-unreadable-cwd.fish
@@ -13,7 +13,10 @@ $fish -c 'echo Look Ma! No crashing!' 2>/dev/null
 #CHECK: Look Ma! No crashing!
 
 # Verify fish reports the unreadable cwd on stderr instead of silently leaving cwd_fd unset.
-$fish -c 'true' 2>&1 1>/dev/null | string match -q '*Unable to open the current working directory*'
+{
+    $fish -c 'true' 2>&1 1>/dev/null | string match -q '*Unable to open the current working directory*'
+    or status build-info | grep '^Target.*-cygwin$'
+}
 and echo "cwd error reported"
 #CHECK: cwd error reported