diff --git a/dist/common/scripts/scylla_util.py b/dist/common/scripts/scylla_util.py
index fb7d9424e1..0575d03aca 100644
--- a/dist/common/scripts/scylla_util.py
+++ b/dist/common/scripts/scylla_util.py
@@ -1041,7 +1041,7 @@ class systemd_unit:
         return run('systemctl {} disable {}'.format(self.ctlparam, self._unit), shell=True, check=True)
 
     def is_active(self):
-        return True if run('systemctl {} is-active {}'.format(self.ctlparam, self._unit), shell=True, capture_output=True, encoding='utf-8').stdout.strip() == 'active' else False
+        return run('systemctl {} is-active {}'.format(self.ctlparam, self._unit), shell=True, capture_output=True, encoding='utf-8').stdout.strip()
 
     def mask(self):
         return run('systemctl {} mask {}'.format(self.ctlparam, self._unit), shell=True, check=True)