diff --git a/elkscmd/file_utils/mknod.c b/elkscmd/file_utils/mknod.c
index 9fc16ccb1..bb627ca11 100644
--- a/elkscmd/file_utils/mknod.c
+++ b/elkscmd/file_utils/mknod.c
@@ -16,10 +16,10 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	if (argv[1] && argv[1][0] == '-' && argv[1][1] == 'p') {
 		/* preserve option */
 		struct stat sb;
-		if(stat(argv[2], &sb) == 0) {
-			if(S_ISCHR(sb.st_mode) && argv[3] && (argv[3][0] == 'c' || argv[3][0] == 'u')) return 1;
-			if(S_ISBLK(sb.st_mode)  && argv[3] && argv[3][0] == 'b') return 1;
-			if(S_ISFIFO(sb.st_mode) && argv[3] && argv[3][0] == 'p') return 1;
+		if (stat(argv[2], &sb) == 0) {
+			if (S_ISCHR(sb.st_mode) && argv[3] && (argv[3][0] == 'c' || argv[3][0] == 'u')) return 1;
+			if (S_ISBLK(sb.st_mode)  && argv[3] && argv[3][0] == 'b') return 1;
+			if (S_ISFIFO(sb.st_mode) && argv[3] && argv[3][0] == 'p') return 1;
 		}
 		/* valid node not there yet, so we advance and create it */
 		argc--;