diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-core-private.h b/src/libostree/ostree-core-private.h
index 2bd2f98487..bc416bf4aa 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-core-private.h
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-core-private.h
@@ -91,6 +91,8 @@ GFileInfo * _ostree_stbuf_to_gfileinfo (const struct stat *stbuf);
 void _ostree_gfileinfo_to_stbuf (GFileInfo    *file_info, struct stat  *out_stbuf);
 gboolean _ostree_gfileinfo_equal (GFileInfo *a, GFileInfo *b);
 gboolean _ostree_stbuf_equal (struct stat *stbuf_a, struct stat *stbuf_b);
+gboolean _ostree_stbuf_is_whiteout(struct stat *stbuf);
+gboolean _ostree_gfileinfo_is_whiteout(GFileInfo *file_info);
 GFileInfo * _ostree_mode_uidgid_to_gfileinfo (mode_t mode, uid_t uid, gid_t gid);
 
 static inline void
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-core.c b/src/libostree/ostree-core.c
index 44ca8abf08..c2a5867b81 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-core.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-core.c
@@ -1732,6 +1732,7 @@ _ostree_stbuf_to_gfileinfo (const struct stat *stbuf)
   g_file_info_set_attribute_uint32 (ret, "unix::uid", stbuf->st_uid);
   g_file_info_set_attribute_uint32 (ret, "unix::gid", stbuf->st_gid);
   g_file_info_set_attribute_uint32 (ret, "unix::mode", mode);
+  g_file_info_set_attribute_uint32 (ret, "unix::rdev", stbuf->st_rdev);
 
   /* those aren't stored by ostree, but used by the devino cache */
   g_file_info_set_attribute_uint32 (ret, "unix::device", stbuf->st_dev);
@@ -1816,6 +1817,22 @@ _ostree_stbuf_equal (struct stat *stbuf_a, struct stat *stbuf_b)
   return TRUE;
 }
 
+/* Check if stbuf belongs to a whiteout character device */
+gboolean
+_ostree_stbuf_is_whiteout(struct stat *stbuf)
+{
+  return S_ISCHR(stbuf->st_mode) && stbuf->st_rdev == 0;
+}
+
+/* Check if GFileInfo belongs to a whiteout character device */
+gboolean
+_ostree_gfileinfo_is_whiteout(GFileInfo *file_info)
+{
+  struct stat stbuf;
+  _ostree_gfileinfo_to_stbuf(file_info, &stbuf);
+  return _ostree_stbuf_is_whiteout(&stbuf);
+}
+
 /* Many parts of libostree only care about mode,uid,gid - this creates
  * a new GFileInfo with those fields see.
  */
@@ -2014,7 +2031,7 @@ file_header_parse (GVariant         *metadata,
   mode = GUINT32_FROM_BE (mode);
   g_autoptr(GFileInfo) ret_file_info = _ostree_mode_uidgid_to_gfileinfo (mode, uid, gid);
 
-  if (S_ISREG (mode) || S_ISCHR(mode))
+  if (S_ISREG (mode) || _ostree_gfileinfo_is_whiteout(ret_file_info))
     {
       ;
     }
@@ -2065,7 +2082,7 @@ zlib_file_header_parse (GVariant         *metadata,
   g_autoptr(GFileInfo) ret_file_info = _ostree_mode_uidgid_to_gfileinfo (mode, uid, gid);
   g_file_info_set_size (ret_file_info, GUINT64_FROM_BE (size));
 
-  if (S_ISREG (mode) || S_ISCHR (mode))
+  if (S_ISREG (mode) || _ostree_gfileinfo_is_whiteout(ret_file_info))
     {
       ;
     }
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-checkout.c b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-checkout.c
index ed271781e4..d8f68f52a7 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-checkout.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-checkout.c
@@ -385,9 +385,9 @@ create_file_copy_from_input_at (OstreeRepo     *repo,
                 if (g_str_equal (checksum, actual_checksum))
                   return TRUE;
 
-                /* Otherwise, fall through and do the link, we should
-                 * get EEXIST.
-                 */
+                  /* Otherwise, fall through and do the link, we should
+                  * get EEXIST.
+                  */
               }
           }
           break;
@@ -401,10 +401,10 @@ create_file_copy_from_input_at (OstreeRepo     *repo,
   else if (g_file_info_get_file_type (file_info) == G_FILE_TYPE_SPECIAL)
     {
       guint32 file_mode = g_file_info_get_attribute_uint32 (file_info, "unix::mode");
-      g_assert(S_ISCHR(file_mode));
+      g_assert(_ostree_gfileinfo_is_whiteout(file_info));
 
       if (mknodat(destination_dfd, destination_name, file_mode, (dev_t)0) < 0)
-        return glnx_throw_errno_prefix (error, "Creating whiteout char device");
+          return glnx_throw_errno_prefix (error, "Creating whiteout char device");
       if (options->mode != OSTREE_REPO_CHECKOUT_MODE_USER)
         {
           if (xattrs != NULL &&
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-commit.c b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-commit.c
index 1bcd6d3e5a..595446dfb1 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-repo-commit.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-repo-commit.c
@@ -1010,7 +1010,7 @@ write_content_object (OstreeRepo         *self,
       break;
     case G_FILE_TYPE_SPECIAL:
         /* Only overlayfs whiteout char 0:0 files are supported for G_FILE_TYPE_SPECIAL */
-        if (S_ISCHR(mode))
+        if (_ostree_gfileinfo_is_whiteout(file_info))
           {
             /* For bare mode repositories where no side file metadata is stored we want to
              * avoid the creation of an empty tmp file and later setup of permissions because
@@ -4152,7 +4152,7 @@ write_dfd_iter_to_mtree_internal (OstreeRepo                  *self,
         }
 
       /* For regular files and whiteout char devices we continue */
-      if (S_ISREG (stbuf.st_mode) || (S_ISCHR(stbuf.st_mode) && stbuf.st_rdev == 0))
+      if (S_ISREG (stbuf.st_mode) || _ostree_stbuf_is_whiteout(&stbuf))
         ;
       else if (S_ISLNK (stbuf.st_mode))
         {
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c b/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c
index 932eef4fac..3ebfa7ce41 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-repo.c
@@ -4475,7 +4475,7 @@ ostree_repo_load_file (OstreeRepo         *self,
           if (S_ISLNK (stbuf.st_mode))
             g_file_info_set_symlink_target (*out_file_info, symlink_target);
           else
-            g_assert (S_ISREG (stbuf.st_mode) || (S_ISCHR(stbuf.st_mode) && stbuf.st_rdev == 0));
+            g_assert (S_ISREG (stbuf.st_mode) || _ostree_stbuf_is_whiteout(&stbuf));
         }
 
       ot_transfer_out_value (out_xattrs, &ret_xattrs);