diff --git a/src/basic/terminal-util.c b/src/basic/terminal-util.c
index 3fd5c4f8b8..09410ccc45 100644
--- a/src/basic/terminal-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/terminal-util.c
@@ -1973,7 +1973,7 @@ int terminal_get_cursor_position(
         assert(input_fd >= 0);
         assert(output_fd >= 0);
 
-        if (terminal_is_dumb())
+        if (getenv_terminal_is_dumb())
                 return -EOPNOTSUPP;
 
         r = terminal_verify_same(input_fd, output_fd);
@@ -2458,7 +2458,11 @@ static int terminal_prepare_query(
         assert(ret_nonblock_fd);
         assert(ret_saved_termios);
 
-        if (terminal_is_dumb())
+        /* Use getenv_terminal_is_dumb() instead of terminal_is_dumb() here since we operate on an
+         * explicitly passed fd, not on stdio. terminal_is_dumb() additionally checks on_tty() which
+         * tests whether *stderr* is a tty — that's irrelevant when we're querying a directly opened
+         * terminal such as /dev/console. */
+        if (getenv_terminal_is_dumb())
                 return -EOPNOTSUPP;
 
         r = terminal_verify_same(input_fd, output_fd);