diff --git a/sbin/newfs_msdos/newfs_msdos.c b/sbin/newfs_msdos/newfs_msdos.c
index 40ed0772eeb..aeae025b076 100644
--- a/sbin/newfs_msdos/newfs_msdos.c
+++ b/sbin/newfs_msdos/newfs_msdos.c
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
     if (!opt_N)
 	check_mounted(fname, sb.st_mode);
     if (!S_ISCHR(sb.st_mode))
-	errx(1, "%s is not a character device", fname);
+	warnx("warning: %s is not a character device", fname);
     memset(&bpb, 0, sizeof(bpb));
     if (opt_f) {
 	getstdfmt(opt_f, &bpb);