In a method and a device for determining an operating characteristic of an injection system, to determine an operating characteristic (30) of an internal combustion engine (1) that is charged by a turbocharger (4), the method has the following steps: A) carrying out a pilot injection of fuel into a cylinder (51, 52, 53, 54) of the internal combustion engine using the injection system (30); B) determining an operating parameter of the turbocharger (40); C) determining an operating characteristic of the injection system (30) using the operating parameter of the turbocharger (40) previously determined.