diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/watchdog/watchdog-test.c b/tools/testing/selftests/watchdog/watchdog-test.c
index afff120c7be6e57496de9d835b38acf4b89930a3..6ed822dc2222214bcf4de1a32aaeaa5612027c78 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/watchdog/watchdog-test.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/watchdog/watchdog-test.c
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	int c;
 	int oneshot = 0;
 	char *file = "/dev/watchdog";
+	struct watchdog_info info;
 
 	setbuf(stdout, NULL);
 
@@ -118,6 +119,16 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		exit(-1);
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * Validate that `file` is a watchdog device
+	 */
+	ret = ioctl(fd, WDIOC_GETSUPPORT, &info);
+	if (ret) {
+		printf("WDIOC_GETSUPPORT error '%s'\n", strerror(errno));
+		close(fd);
+		exit(ret);
+	}
+
 	optind = 0;
 
 	while ((c = getopt_long(argc, argv, sopts, lopts, NULL)) != -1) {