diff --git a/test/hotspot/jtreg/runtime/8176717/TestInheritFD.java b/test/hotspot/jtreg/runtime/8176717/TestInheritFD.java
index 38d462ec9d3..7cea65e39aa 100644
--- a/test/hotspot/jtreg/runtime/8176717/TestInheritFD.java
+++ b/test/hotspot/jtreg/runtime/8176717/TestInheritFD.java
@@ -5,11 +5,16 @@ import static java.lang.management.ManagementFactory.getOperatingSystemMXBean;
 import static java.nio.file.Files.readAllBytes;
 import static java.nio.file.Files.readSymbolicLink;
 import static java.util.Arrays.stream;
+import static java.util.Optional.empty;
+import static java.util.Optional.of;
 import static java.util.stream.Collectors.joining;
 import static jdk.test.lib.process.ProcessTools.createJavaProcessBuilder;
 
 import java.io.File;
+import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
+import java.io.FileOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.Optional;
 
 import com.sun.management.UnixOperatingSystemMXBean;
 
@@ -124,6 +129,8 @@ public class TestInheritFD {
             long parentPid = parseLong(args[1]);
             long parentFDCount = parseLong(args[2]);
 
+            fakeLeakyJVM(false);
+
             if(supportsUnixMXBean()){
                 long thisFDCount = unixNrFD();
                 System.out.println("This VM FD-count ("
@@ -131,8 +138,8 @@ public class TestInheritFD {
                         + ") should be strictly less than parent VM FD-count ("
                         + parentFDCount
                         + ") as log file should have been closed, HOWEVER, THIS CAN NOT BE RELIED"
-                        + " ON as files in /proc and /sys is opened by the JVM");
-                System.out.println(findOpenLogFile()?LEAKS_FD:RETAINS_FD);
+                        + " ON as files in /proc and /sys are opened by the JVM");
+                System.out.println(findOpenLogFile() ? LEAKS_FD : RETAINS_FD);
             } else if (getProperty("os.name").toLowerCase().contains("win")) {
                 windows(logFile, parentPid);
             } else {
@@ -151,11 +158,21 @@ public class TestInheritFD {
         return osBean.getOpenFileDescriptorCount();
     }
 
-    static File linkTarget(File f) {
+    static Optional<String> linkTargetName(File f) {
         try {
-            return readSymbolicLink(f.toPath()).toFile();
+            return of(readSymbolicLink(f.toPath()).toFile().getName());
         } catch (IOException e) {
-            return new File("Error: could not read symbolic link (last link can not be read as it points to the /proc/self/fd directory that has been closed): " + e.toString());
+            return empty();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @SuppressWarnings("resource")
+    static void fakeLeakyJVM(boolean fake) {
+        if (fake) {
+            try {
+                new FileOutputStream("fakeLeakyJVM" + LOG_SUFFIX, false);
+            } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
+            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -163,12 +180,13 @@ public class TestInheritFD {
         File dir = new File("/proc/self/fd");
 
         System.out.println("Open file descriptors:\n" + stream(dir.listFiles())
-            .map(f -> "###" + f.getAbsolutePath() + " -> " + linkTarget(f))
+            .map(f -> f.getAbsolutePath() + " maps to: " + linkTargetName(f).orElse("?"))
             .collect(joining("\n")));
 
         return stream(dir.listFiles())
-            .map(TestInheritFD::linkTarget)
-            .filter(f -> f.getName().endsWith(LOG_SUFFIX))
+            .map(TestInheritFD::linkTargetName)
+            .flatMap(Optional::stream)
+            .filter(fileName -> fileName.endsWith(LOG_SUFFIX))
             .findAny()
             .isPresent();
     }
@@ -177,6 +195,6 @@ public class TestInheritFD {
         System.out.println("waiting for pid: " + parentPid);
         ProcessHandle.of(parentPid).ifPresent(handle -> handle.onExit().join());
         System.out.println("trying to rename file to the same name: " + f);
-        System.out.println(f.renameTo(f)?RETAINS_FD:LEAKS_FD); // this parts communicates a closed file descriptor by printing "VM RESULT => RETAINS FD"
+        System.out.println(f.renameTo(f) ? RETAINS_FD : LEAKS_FD); // this parts communicates a closed file descriptor by printing "VM RESULT => RETAINS FD"
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file