diff --git a/tests/misc/sort-merge-fdlimit b/tests/misc/sort-merge-fdlimit
index ee1575aed..7ce109c1a 100755
--- a/tests/misc/sort-merge-fdlimit
+++ b/tests/misc/sort-merge-fdlimit
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ done
 (seq 6 && echo 6) >exp || fail=1
 echo 6 >out || fail=1
 (exec 3<&- 4<&- 5<&- 6</dev/null 7<&6 8<&6 9<&6 &&
- ulimit -n 11 &&
+ ulimit -n 10 &&
  sort -n -m --batch-size=7 -o out out in/1 in/2 in/3 in/4 in/5 out
 ) &&
 compare exp out || fail=1