diff --git a/cmds-replace.c b/cmds-replace.c
index 25e8c7fa..8ed92c44 100644
--- a/cmds-replace.c
+++ b/cmds-replace.c
@@ -137,13 +137,12 @@ static int cmd_start_replace(int argc, char **argv)
 	char *dstdev;
 	int avoid_reading_from_srcdev = 0;
 	int force_using_targetdev = 0;
-	u64 total_devs = 1;
-	struct btrfs_fs_devices *fs_devices_mnt = NULL;
 	struct stat st;
 	u64 dstdev_block_count;
 	int do_not_background = 0;
 	int mixed = 0;
 	DIR *dirstream = NULL;
+	char estr[100]; /* check test_dev_for_mkfs() for error string size*/
 
 	while ((c = getopt(argc, argv, "Brf")) != -1) {
 		switch (c) {
@@ -265,15 +264,9 @@ static int cmd_start_replace(int argc, char **argv)
 		start_args.start.srcdevid = 0;
 	}
 
-	ret = check_mounted(dstdev);
-	if (ret < 0) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "Error checking %s mount status\n", dstdev);
-		goto leave_with_error;
-	}
-	if (ret == 1) {
-		fprintf(stderr,
-			"Error, target device %s is in use and currently mounted!\n",
-			dstdev);
+	ret = test_dev_for_mkfs(dstdev, force_using_targetdev, estr);
+	if (ret) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "%s", estr);
 		goto leave_with_error;
 	}
 	fddstdev = open(dstdev, O_RDWR);
@@ -281,23 +274,6 @@ static int cmd_start_replace(int argc, char **argv)
 		fprintf(stderr, "Unable to open %s\n", dstdev);
 		goto leave_with_error;
 	}
-	ret = btrfs_scan_one_device(fddstdev, dstdev, &fs_devices_mnt,
-				    &total_devs, BTRFS_SUPER_INFO_OFFSET);
-	if (ret >= 0 && !force_using_targetdev) {
-		fprintf(stderr,
-			"Error, target device %s contains filesystem, use '-f' to force overwriting.\n",
-			dstdev);
-		goto leave_with_error;
-	}
-	ret = fstat(fddstdev, &st);
-	if (ret) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "Error: Unable to stat '%s'\n", dstdev);
-		goto leave_with_error;
-	}
-	if (!S_ISBLK(st.st_mode)) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "Error: '%s' is not a block device\n", dstdev);
-		goto leave_with_error;
-	}
 	strncpy((char *)start_args.start.tgtdev_name, dstdev,
 		BTRFS_DEVICE_PATH_NAME_MAX);
 	if (btrfs_prepare_device(fddstdev, dstdev, 1, &dstdev_block_count, 0,
diff --git a/utils.c b/utils.c
index 15b991ff..c1469a9b 100644
--- a/utils.c
+++ b/utils.c
@@ -1807,6 +1807,7 @@ int test_dev_for_mkfs(char *file, int force_overwrite, char *estr)
 {
 	int ret, fd;
 	size_t sz = 100;
+	struct stat st;
 
 	ret = is_swap_device(file);
 	if (ret < 0) {
@@ -1841,6 +1842,15 @@ int test_dev_for_mkfs(char *file, int force_overwrite, char *estr)
 			strerror(errno));
 		return 1;
 	}
+	if (fstat(fd, &st)) {
+		snprintf(estr, sz, "unable to stat %s: %s\n", file,
+			strerror(errno));
+		return 1;
+	}
+	if (!S_ISBLK(st.st_mode)) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "'%s' is not a block device\n", file);
+		return 1;
+	}
 	close(fd);
 	return 0;
 }