diff --git a/src/core/IO/Handle.pm b/src/core/IO/Handle.pm
index 40bffae7958..468e1aaf5f9 100644
--- a/src/core/IO/Handle.pm
+++ b/src/core/IO/Handle.pm
@@ -116,7 +116,8 @@ my class IO::Handle {
         );
 
         nqp::if(
-          nqp::iseq_s($!path.Str, '-'),
+          nqp::iseq_s($!path.Str, '-')
+          && nqp::iseq_s('6.c', nqp::getcomp('perl6').language_version),
           nqp::if(
             nqp::iseq_s($mode, 'ro'),
             nqp::if(