diff --git a/tests/hwsim/wpasupplicant.py b/tests/hwsim/wpasupplicant.py
index d097645bc..e99e91ea2 100644
--- a/tests/hwsim/wpasupplicant.py
+++ b/tests/hwsim/wpasupplicant.py
@@ -362,6 +362,8 @@ class WpaSupplicant:
             res = self.request("STATUS-DRIVER")
         else:
             res = self.global_request("IFNAME=%s STATUS-DRIVER" % ifname)
+            if res.startswith("FAIL"):
+                return dict()
         lines = res.splitlines()
         vals = dict()
         for l in lines: