diff --git a/pkg/util/mount/mount.go b/pkg/util/mount/mount.go
index 83a8b0e7a60..7a9e2d372c3 100644
--- a/pkg/util/mount/mount.go
+++ b/pkg/util/mount/mount.go
@@ -98,9 +98,10 @@ func (mounter *SafeFormatAndMount) formatAndMount(source string, target string,
 
 // diskLooksUnformatted uses 'file' to see if the given disk is unformated
 func (mounter *SafeFormatAndMount) diskLooksUnformatted(disk string) (bool, error) {
-	args := []string{"-L", "--special-files", disk}
-	cmd := mounter.Runner.Command("file", args...)
+	args := []string{"-nd", "-o", "FSTYPE", disk}
+	cmd := mounter.Runner.Command("lsblk", args...)
 	dataOut, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+	output := strings.TrimSpace(string(dataOut))
 
 	// TODO (#13212): check if this disk has partitions and return false, and
 	// an error if so.
@@ -109,7 +110,7 @@ func (mounter *SafeFormatAndMount) diskLooksUnformatted(disk string) (bool, erro
 		return false, err
 	}
 
-	return !strings.Contains(string(dataOut), "filesystem"), nil
+	return output == "", nil
 }
 
 // New returns a mount.Interface for the current system.
diff --git a/pkg/util/mount/safe_format_and_mount_test.go b/pkg/util/mount/safe_format_and_mount_test.go
index 9833f7ba4f8..26a23ae6e68 100644
--- a/pkg/util/mount/safe_format_and_mount_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/mount/safe_format_and_mount_test.go
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ func TestSafeFormatAndMount(t *testing.T) {
 			fstype:    "ext4",
 			mountErrs: []error{fmt.Errorf("unknown filesystem type '(null)'")},
 			execScripts: []ExecArgs{
-				{"file", []string{"-L", "--special-files", "/dev/foo"}, "ext4 filesystem", nil},
+				{"lsblk", []string{"-nd", "-o", "FSTYPE", "/dev/foo"}, "ext4", nil},
 			},
 			expectedError: fmt.Errorf("unknown filesystem type '(null)'"),
 		},
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ func TestSafeFormatAndMount(t *testing.T) {
 			fstype:    "ext4",
 			mountErrs: []error{fmt.Errorf("unknown filesystem type '(null)'")},
 			execScripts: []ExecArgs{
-				{"file", []string{"-L", "--special-files", "/dev/foo"}, "data", nil},
+				{"lsblk", []string{"-nd", "-o", "FSTYPE", "/dev/foo"}, "", nil},
 				{"mkfs.ext4", []string{"-E", "lazy_itable_init=0,lazy_journal_init=0", "-F", "/dev/foo"}, "", fmt.Errorf("formatting failed")},
 			},
 			expectedError: fmt.Errorf("formatting failed"),
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ func TestSafeFormatAndMount(t *testing.T) {
 			fstype:    "ext4",
 			mountErrs: []error{fmt.Errorf("unknown filesystem type '(null)'"), fmt.Errorf("Still cannot mount")},
 			execScripts: []ExecArgs{
-				{"file", []string{"-L", "--special-files", "/dev/foo"}, "data", nil},
+				{"lsblk", []string{"-nd", "-o", "FSTYPE", "/dev/foo"}, "", nil},
 				{"mkfs.ext4", []string{"-E", "lazy_itable_init=0,lazy_journal_init=0", "-F", "/dev/foo"}, "", nil},
 			},
 			expectedError: fmt.Errorf("Still cannot mount"),
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ func TestSafeFormatAndMount(t *testing.T) {
 			fstype:    "ext4",
 			mountErrs: []error{fmt.Errorf("unknown filesystem type '(null)'"), nil},
 			execScripts: []ExecArgs{
-				{"file", []string{"-L", "--special-files", "/dev/foo"}, "data", nil},
+				{"lsblk", []string{"-nd", "-o", "FSTYPE", "/dev/foo"}, "", nil},
 				{"mkfs.ext4", []string{"-E", "lazy_itable_init=0,lazy_journal_init=0", "-F", "/dev/foo"}, "", nil},
 			},
 			expectedError: nil,
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ func TestSafeFormatAndMount(t *testing.T) {
 			fstype:    "ext3",
 			mountErrs: []error{fmt.Errorf("unknown filesystem type '(null)'"), nil},
 			execScripts: []ExecArgs{
-				{"file", []string{"-L", "--special-files", "/dev/foo"}, "data", nil},
+				{"lsblk", []string{"-nd", "-o", "FSTYPE", "/dev/foo"}, "", nil},
 				{"mkfs.ext3", []string{"-E", "lazy_itable_init=0,lazy_journal_init=0", "-F", "/dev/foo"}, "", nil},
 			},
 			expectedError: nil,