diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/net/mptcp/mptcp_join.sh b/tools/testing/selftests/net/mptcp/mptcp_join.sh
index c0aeffd5cb71..7dc91fac4917 100755
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/net/mptcp/mptcp_join.sh
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/net/mptcp/mptcp_join.sh
@@ -584,7 +584,7 @@ check_transfer()
 		mv "$tmpfile" "$out"
 		tmpfile=""
 	fi
-	cmp -l "$in" "$out" | while read -r i a b; do
+	while read -r i a b; do
 		local sum=$((0${a} + 0${b}))
 		if [ $check_invert -eq 0 ] || [ $sum -ne $((0xff)) ]; then
 			fail_test "$what does not match (in, out):"
@@ -595,7 +595,7 @@ check_transfer()
 		else
 			print_info "$what has inverted byte at ${i}"
 		fi
-	done
+	done < <(cmp -l "$in" "$out")
 
 	return 0
 }