diff --git a/block/partitions/msdos.c b/block/partitions/msdos.c
index 8752a5d26565..7681cd295ab8 100644
--- a/block/partitions/msdos.c
+++ b/block/partitions/msdos.c
@@ -455,17 +455,22 @@ int msdos_partition(struct parsed_partitions *state)
 	data = read_part_sector(state, 0, &sect);
 	if (!data)
 		return -1;
-	if (!msdos_magic_present(data + 510)) {
-		put_dev_sector(sect);
-		return 0;
-	}
 
+	/*
+	 * Note order! (some AIX disks, e.g. unbootable kind,
+	 * have no MSDOS 55aa)
+	 */
 	if (aix_magic_present(state, data)) {
 		put_dev_sector(sect);
 		strlcat(state->pp_buf, " [AIX]", PAGE_SIZE);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
+	if (!msdos_magic_present(data + 510)) {
+		put_dev_sector(sect);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * Now that the 55aa signature is present, this is probably
 	 * either the boot sector of a FAT filesystem or a DOS-type