diff --git a/psh/test-ps.py b/psh/test-ps.py
index a617e68b6..59d12c372 100644
--- a/psh/test-ps.py
+++ b/psh/test-ps.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 """
 (psh)% ps
   PID  PPID PR STATE  %CPU  WAIT    TIME   VMEM THR CMD
-    0     0  7 ready  97.1  2.9s   31:25   2.6M   1 [idle]
+    0     0  7 ready  97.1  2.9s   31:25   2.6M   1 [kthread]
     5     1  1 sleep   1.7 295ms    0:37   124K   3 uart16550
     4     1  4 ready   0.6   7ms    0:12   140K   1 psh
     2     1  4 sleep   0.1  52ms    0:03   308K   1 dummyfs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 @psh.run
 def harness(p):
     header_seen = False
-    expected_tasks = ['[idle]', 'init', 'psh']
+    expected_tasks = ['[kthread]', 'init', 'psh']
     ps_header = 'PID PPID PR STATE %CPU WAIT TIME VMEM THR CMD'.split()
 
     p.sendline('ps')
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ def harness(p):
             # handle for example /bin/psh
             if task.endswith('psh'):
                 task = 'psh'
+            if task == '[idle]':
+                task = '[kthread]'  # allow old name of kernel thread
             if task in expected_tasks:
                 expected_tasks.remove(task)