diff --git a/src/main/java/fi/solita/clamav/ClamAVClient.java b/src/main/java/fi/solita/clamav/ClamAVClient.java
index 7f14e11..c24ed45 100644
--- a/src/main/java/fi/solita/clamav/ClamAVClient.java
+++ b/src/main/java/fi/solita/clamav/ClamAVClient.java
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ public ClamAVClient(String hostName, int port) {
   public boolean ping() throws IOException {
     try (Socket s = new Socket(hostName,port); OutputStream outs = s.getOutputStream()) {
       s.setSoTimeout(timeout);
-      outs.write(asBytes("zPING\0"));
+      outs.write(asBytes("PING"));
       outs.flush();
       byte[] b = new byte[PONG_REPLY_LEN];
       InputStream inputStream = s.getInputStream();