diff --git a/meta/lib/oeqa/runtime/cases/systemd.py b/meta/lib/oeqa/runtime/cases/systemd.py
index 5481e1d840..8bf571663b 100644
--- a/meta/lib/oeqa/runtime/cases/systemd.py
+++ b/meta/lib/oeqa/runtime/cases/systemd.py
@@ -145,7 +145,8 @@ class SystemdServiceTests(SystemdTest):
         Verify that call-stacks generated by systemd-coredump contain symbolicated call-stacks,
         extracted from the minidebuginfo metadata (.gnu_debugdata elf section).
         """
-        t_thread = threading.Thread(target=self.target.run, args=("ulimit -c unlimited && sleep 1000",))
+        # use "env sleep" instead of "sleep" to avoid calling the shell builtin function
+        t_thread = threading.Thread(target=self.target.run, args=("ulimit -c unlimited && env sleep 1000",))
         t_thread.start()
         time.sleep(1)