diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/vm-runtime-smoke.yml b/.gitea/workflows/vm-runtime-smoke.yml
index 3e2421c..76153c4 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/vm-runtime-smoke.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/vm-runtime-smoke.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           : "${SPIFFE_ENDPOINT_SOCKET:?SPIFFE_ENDPOINT_SOCKET is required}"
-          test -S "$SPIFFE_ENDPOINT_SOCKET"
+          socket_path=${SPIFFE_ENDPOINT_SOCKET#unix://}
+          test -S "$socket_path"
 
       - name: Verify Docker daemon
         shell: bash