diff --git a/test/check-subscriptions b/test/check-subscriptions
index deb8a4c..7442ac4 100755
--- a/test/check-subscriptions
+++ b/test/check-subscriptions
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import os
 import sys
 import unittest
+import uuid
 
 # import Cockpit's machinery for test VMs and its browser test API
 TEST_DIR = os.path.dirname(__file__)
@@ -444,8 +445,10 @@ class TestSubscriptions(SubscriptionsCase):
 
         b.wait_visible("button:contains('Connected to Insights')")
 
-        # Break the next upload and expect the warning triangle to tell us about it
-        m.execute(["mv", "/etc/insights-client/machine-id", "/etc/insights-client/machine-id.lost"])
+        # Break the next upload and expect the warning triangle to tell us about it;
+        # write over the original file so its SELinux attributes are preserved.
+        m.execute(["cp", "/etc/insights-client/machine-id", "/etc/insights-client/machine-id.orig"])
+        m.write("/etc/insights-client/machine-id", str(uuid.uuid4()))
         m.execute(["systemctl", "start", "insights-client"])
 
         with b.wait_timeout(60):
@@ -456,7 +459,7 @@ class TestSubscriptions(SubscriptionsCase):
         b.click("button.cancel")
 
         # Unbreak it and retry.
-        m.execute(["mv", "/etc/insights-client/machine-id.lost", "/etc/insights-client/machine-id"])
+        m.execute(["mv", "/etc/insights-client/machine-id.orig", "/etc/insights-client/machine-id"])
         m.execute(
             "systemctl start insights-client; "
             "while systemctl --quiet is-active insights-client; do sleep 1; done",