diff --git a/Lib/test/test_tarfile.py b/Lib/test/test_tarfile.py
index 1a556eb..124f0e9 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_tarfile.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_tarfile.py
@@ -616,10 +616,14 @@
         if hasattr(os, "link"):
             link = os.path.join(TEMPDIR, "link")
             target = os.path.join(TEMPDIR, "link_target")
-            open(target, "wb").close()
+            fobj = open(target, "wb")
+            fobj.write(b"aaa")
+            fobj.close()
             os.link(target, link)
             try:
                 tar = tarfile.open(tmpname, self.mode)
+                # Record the link target in the inodes list.
+                tar.gettarinfo(target)
                 tarinfo = tar.gettarinfo(link)
                 self.assertEqual(tarinfo.size, 0)
             finally: