diff --git a/tests/vm/basevm.py b/tests/vm/basevm.py
index 4dee6647e6..c99725b8c0 100644
--- a/tests/vm/basevm.py
+++ b/tests/vm/basevm.py
@@ -120,11 +120,16 @@ def check_sha512sum(fname):
         return fname
 
     def _ssh_do(self, user, cmd, check):
-        ssh_cmd = ["ssh", "-q", "-t",
+        ssh_cmd = ["ssh",
+                   "-t",
                    "-o", "StrictHostKeyChecking=no",
                    "-o", "UserKnownHostsFile=" + os.devnull,
                    "-o", "ConnectTimeout=1",
                    "-p", self.ssh_port, "-i", self._ssh_key_file]
+        # If not in debug mode, set ssh to quiet mode to
+        # avoid printing the results of commands.
+        if not self.debug:
+            ssh_cmd.append("-q")
         for var in self.envvars:
             ssh_cmd += ['-o', "SendEnv=%s" % var ]
         assert not isinstance(cmd, str)