diff --git a/cmd/vdev_id/vdev_id b/cmd/vdev_id/vdev_id
index 3cf1b58285..713ff98658 100755
--- a/cmd/vdev_id/vdev_id
+++ b/cmd/vdev_id/vdev_id
@@ -179,8 +179,10 @@ sas_handler() {
 			return
 		fi
 
-		# Get the raw scsi device name from multipath -l.
-		DEV=`multipath -l $DM_NAME |awk '/running/{print $3 ; exit}'`
+		# Get the raw scsi device name from multipath -l.  Strip off
+		# leading pipe symbols to make field numbering consistent.
+		DEV=`multipath -l $DM_NAME |
+			awk '/running/{gsub("^[|]"," "); print $3 ; exit}'`
 		if [ -z "$DEV" ] ; then
 			return
 		fi