diff --git a/tests/vm/freebsd b/tests/vm/freebsd
index 795f739c7b32fa7284503a93f51116f054b53be2..0a6ec4614a71c229b121644c41ed3d475e1c5fa0 100755
--- a/tests/vm/freebsd
+++ b/tests/vm/freebsd
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ class FreeBSDVM(basevm.BaseVM):
         cd $(mktemp -d /var/tmp/qemu-test.XXXXXX);
         tar -xf /dev/vtbd1;
         ./configure {configure_opts};
-        gmake -j{jobs} {verbose};
-        gmake -j{jobs} check {verbose};
+        gmake --output-sync -j{jobs} {verbose};
+        gmake --output-sync -j{jobs} check {verbose};
     """
 
     def build_image(self, img):
diff --git a/tests/vm/netbsd b/tests/vm/netbsd
index c211672bcbd98adf36c80babec52c10983a1b943..45c9260dc0dfd4bfd77e4baafdac91fb2868acbd 100755
--- a/tests/vm/netbsd
+++ b/tests/vm/netbsd
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ class NetBSDVM(basevm.BaseVM):
         cd $(mktemp -d /var/tmp/qemu-test.XXXXXX);
         tar -xf /dev/rld1a;
         ./configure --python=python2.7 {configure_opts};
-        gmake -j{jobs} {verbose};
-        gmake -j{jobs} check {verbose};
+        gmake --output-sync -j{jobs} {verbose};
+        gmake --output-sync -j{jobs} check {verbose};
     """
 
     def build_image(self, img):
diff --git a/tests/vm/openbsd b/tests/vm/openbsd
index 1e0c2500ad9324be5e3e54bd724e5494c67c3013..98edfbca4ba7a8b70572218b01f55637b6d5c9d6 100755
--- a/tests/vm/openbsd
+++ b/tests/vm/openbsd
@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@ class OpenBSDVM(basevm.BaseVM):
         cd $(mktemp -d /var/tmp/qemu-test.XXXXXX);
         tar -xf /dev/rsd1c;
         ./configure --cc=x86_64-unknown-openbsd6.1-gcc-4.9.4 --python=python2.7 {configure_opts};
-        gmake -j{jobs} {verbose};
+        gmake --output-sync -j{jobs} {verbose};
         # XXX: "gmake check" seems to always hang or fail
-        #gmake -j{jobs} check {verbose};
+        #gmake --output-sync -j{jobs} check {verbose};
     """
 
     def build_image(self, img):
diff --git a/tests/vm/ubuntu.i386 b/tests/vm/ubuntu.i386
index 160b9be03459f3253cbaa5aef3e1f9d8c44d7aa8..3f6ed48b74f1e38718aa10b2d38cc9a5712d5af8 100755
--- a/tests/vm/ubuntu.i386
+++ b/tests/vm/ubuntu.i386
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ class UbuntuX86VM(basevm.BaseVM):
         sudo chmod a+r /dev/vdb;
         tar -xf /dev/vdb;
         ./configure {configure_opts};
-        make -j{jobs};
-        make check -j{jobs} {verbose};
+        make --output-sync -j{jobs};
+        make --output-sync check -j{jobs} {verbose};
     """
 
     def _gen_cloud_init_iso(self):