diff --git a/regtest/scripts/fixzeroes.sh b/regtest/scripts/fixzeroes.sh
index 6ef03fcb94..608dac7292 100755
--- a/regtest/scripts/fixzeroes.sh
+++ b/regtest/scripts/fixzeroes.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 file=$1
 
-grep -q "\x00" $file  && exit 0
+grep -E '[^[:print:]]' $file 2> /dev/null && exit 0
 
 sed "s/-\(0\.0*0 \)/ \1/g; 
      s/-\(0\.0*0$\)/ \1/g" $file > $file.$$.tmp