diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_ls.rs b/tests/by-util/test_ls.rs
index 87b3066569a..79a04b268ff 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_ls.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_ls.rs
@@ -3608,9 +3608,13 @@ fn test_ls_dired_complex() {
     let mut cmd = scene.ucmd();
     cmd.arg("--dired").arg("-l").arg("d");
     let result = cmd.succeeds();
-    // Number of blocks
+
+    // Number of blocks. We run this test only if the default size of a newly created directory is
+    // 4096 bytes to prevent it from failing where this is not the case (e.g. using tmpfs for /tmp).
     #[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
-    result.stdout_contains("  total 4");
+    if at.metadata("d/d").len() == 4096 {
+        result.stdout_contains("  total 4");
+    }
 
     let output = result.stdout_str().to_string();
     println!("Output:\n{}", output);