diff --git a/virttest/virt_vm.py b/virttest/virt_vm.py
index 679521a57a..36b842d8d4 100644
--- a/virttest/virt_vm.py
+++ b/virttest/virt_vm.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 import six
 from aexpect import remote
 from aexpect.exceptions import ExpectError, ShellError
+from aexpect.utils import astring
 from avocado.core import exceptions
 from six.moves import xrange
 
@@ -1564,7 +1565,9 @@ def get_cpu_count(self, check_cmd="cpu_chk_cmd", connect_uri=None):
         """
         cmd = self.params.get(check_cmd)
         out = self.session.cmd_output_safe(cmd)
-        return int(re.search("\d+", out, re.M).group())
+        # Removing the escape sequence from the output
+        out_no_escape = astring.strip_console_codes(out)
+        return int(re.search("\d+", out_no_escape, re.M).group())
 
     def get_memory_size(self, cmd=None, timeout=60):
         """