diff --git a/scripts/test_filedma.sh b/scripts/test_filedma.sh
index a078e227831ec54341e608a170dc46f22ce33788..fb89544af8a92de9d7254f98cead4449e7e4e759 100644
--- a/scripts/test_filedma.sh
+++ b/scripts/test_filedma.sh
@@ -100,6 +100,9 @@ function run_filedma_test() {
     local pattern=".*${output_prefix}.*${output_suffix}[_0-9]*"
     echo "${FUNCNAME}: searching for filename matching pattern: '${pattern}'"
     local output_files=$(find ${output_dir} -type f -iregex "${pattern}" ! -iname "*testfile.dat" | sort -rV)
+        if [ -z "${output_files}" ]; then
+          output_files=$(find "${output_dir}/in_progress" -type f -iregex "${pattern}" ! -iname "*testfile.dat" | sort -rV)
+        fi
     if [ -z "${output_files}" ]; then
       echo "${FUNCNAME}: SCDAQ test for ${test_id} FAILED: output file not found!"
       test_failed=1