diff --git a/test/sun/tools/jstatd/JstatdTest.java b/test/sun/tools/jstatd/JstatdTest.java
index 9876a54f093536ed35796f198252715353adba3e..1a11788e09fc97581a8e5ec8a77ae3892bf8ee12 100644
--- a/test/sun/tools/jstatd/JstatdTest.java
+++ b/test/sun/tools/jstatd/JstatdTest.java
@@ -291,6 +291,8 @@ public final class JstatdTest {
         launcher.addVMArg("-XX:+UsePerfData");
         String testSrc = System.getProperty("test.src");
         File policy = new File(testSrc, "all.policy");
+        assertTrue(policy.exists() && policy.isFile(),
+                "Security policy " + policy.getAbsolutePath() + " does not exist or not a file");
         launcher.addVMArg("-Djava.security.policy=" + policy.getAbsolutePath());
         if (port != null) {
             launcher.addToolArg("-p");