diff --git a/package/mariadb/S97mysqld b/package/mariadb/S97mysqld
index 62357fa8c4..7f9ced31e9 100644
--- a/package/mariadb/S97mysqld
+++ b/package/mariadb/S97mysqld
@@ -21,7 +21,9 @@ wait_for_ready() {
 }
 
 start() {
-	if [ `ls -1 $MYSQL_LIB | wc -l` = 0 ] ; then
+	# stderr is redirected to prevent a warning
+	# if mysql lib directory doesn't exist
+	if [ `ls -1 $MYSQL_LIB 2> /dev/null | wc -l` = 0 ] ; then
 		printf "Creating mysql system tables ... "
 		$MYSQL_BIN/mysql_install_db --basedir=/usr --user=mysql \
 			--datadir=$MYSQL_LIB > /dev/null 2>&1