diff --git a/man/sd_event_add_io.xml b/man/sd_event_add_io.xml
index 4201c68f0d..d5495732a7 100644
--- a/man/sd_event_add_io.xml
+++ b/man/sd_event_add_io.xml
@@ -100,22 +100,21 @@
   <refsect1>
     <title>Description</title>
 
-    <para><function>sd_event_add_io()</function> adds a new I/O event
-    source to an event loop. The event loop object is specified in the
-    <parameter>event</parameter> parameter, the event source object is
-    returned in the <parameter>source</parameter> parameter. The
-    <parameter>fd</parameter> parameter takes the UNIX file descriptor
-    to watch, which may refer to a socket, a FIFO, a message queue, a
-    serial connection, a character device, or any other file descriptor
-    compatible with Linux
-    <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>epoll</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>. The
-    <parameter>events</parameter> parameter takes a bit mask of events
-    to watch for, a combination of the following event flags:
-    <constant>EPOLLIN</constant>, <constant>EPOLLOUT</constant>,
-    <constant>EPOLLRDHUP</constant>, <constant>EPOLLPRI</constant>,
-    and <constant>EPOLLET</constant>, see
-    <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>epoll_ctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry>
-    for details.</para>
+    <para><function>sd_event_add_io()</function> adds a new I/O event source to an event loop. The event loop
+    object is specified in the <parameter>event</parameter> parameter, the event source object is returned in
+    the <parameter>source</parameter> parameter. The <parameter>fd</parameter> parameter takes the UNIX file
+    descriptor to watch, which may refer to a socket, a FIFO, a message queue, a serial connection, a
+    character device, or any other file descriptor compatible with Linux <citerefentry
+    project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>epoll</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>. The
+    <parameter>events</parameter> parameter takes a bit mask of events to watch for, a combination of the
+    following event flags: <constant>EPOLLIN</constant>, <constant>EPOLLOUT</constant>,
+    <constant>EPOLLRDHUP</constant>, <constant>EPOLLPRI</constant>, and <constant>EPOLLET</constant>, see
+    <citerefentry
+    project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>epoll_ctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
+    details. Note that not all file descriptors are compatible with epoll, for example regular file or
+    directories are not. If this function is called with a file descriptor that does not support epoll,
+    <constant>-EPERM</constant> is returned (also see below). In most cases such file descriptors may be
+    treated as always-readable or always-writable, so that IO event watching is unnecessary.</para>
 
     <para>The <parameter>handler</parameter> is a function to call when the event source is triggered or
     <constant>NULL</constant>. The <parameter>userdata</parameter> pointer will be passed to the handler
@@ -278,6 +277,16 @@
 
           <listitem><para>The passed event source is not an I/O event source.</para></listitem>
         </varlistentry>
+
+        <varlistentry>
+          <term><constant>-EPERM</constant></term>
+
+          <listitem><para>The passed file descriptor does not support the <citerefentry
+          project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>epoll</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>
+          API, for example because it is a regular file or directory. See <citerefentry
+          project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>epoll_ctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>2</manvolnum></citerefentry>
+          for details.</para></listitem>
+        </varlistentry>
       </variablelist>
     </refsect2>
   </refsect1>
diff --git a/src/journal/journalctl.c b/src/journal/journalctl.c
index 24b973a204..0e21f89da1 100644
--- a/src/journal/journalctl.c
+++ b/src/journal/journalctl.c
@@ -2310,7 +2310,6 @@ static int on_signal(sd_event_source *s, const struct signalfd_siginfo *si, void
 
 static int setup_event(Context *c, int fd, sd_event **ret) {
         _cleanup_(sd_event_unrefp) sd_event *e = NULL;
-        struct stat st;
         int r;
 
         assert(arg_follow);
@@ -2329,15 +2328,15 @@ static int setup_event(Context *c, int fd, sd_event **ret) {
         if (r < 0)
                 return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to add io event source for journal: %m");
 
-        if (fstat(STDOUT_FILENO, &st) < 0)
-                return log_error_errno(errno, "Failed to stat stdout: %m");
-
-        if (IN_SET(st.st_mode & S_IFMT, S_IFCHR, S_IFIFO, S_IFSOCK)) {
-                /* Also keeps an eye on STDOUT, and exits as soon as we see a POLLHUP on that, i.e. when it is closed. */
-                r = sd_event_add_io(e, NULL, STDOUT_FILENO, EPOLLHUP|EPOLLERR, NULL, INT_TO_PTR(-ECANCELED));
-                if (r < 0)
-                        return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to add io event source for stdout: %m");
-        }
+        /* Also keeps an eye on STDOUT, and exits as soon as we see a POLLHUP on that, i.e. when it is closed. */
+        r = sd_event_add_io(e, NULL, STDOUT_FILENO, EPOLLHUP|EPOLLERR, NULL, INT_TO_PTR(-ECANCELED));
+        if (r == -EPERM)
+                /* Installing an epoll watch on a regular file doesn't work and fails with EPERM. Which is
+                 * totally OK, handle it gracefully. epoll_ctl() documents EPERM as the error returned when
+                 * the specified fd doesn't support epoll, hence it's safe to check for that. */
+                log_debug_errno(r, "Unable to install EPOLLHUP watch on stderr, not watching for hangups.");
+        else if (r < 0)
+                return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to add io event source for stdout: %m");
 
         if (arg_lines != 0 || arg_since_set) {
                 r = sd_event_add_defer(e, NULL, on_first_event, c);