diff --git a/tests/cli/lib/lib.sh b/tests/cli/lib/lib.sh
index 38aff24f..e628f7f8 100755
--- a/tests/cli/lib/lib.sh
+++ b/tests/cli/lib/lib.sh
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ composer_stop() {
 verify_image() {
     SSH_USER="$1"
     SSH_MACHINE="$2"
-    SSH_OPTS="-o StrictHostKeyChecking=no $3"
+    SSH_OPTS="-o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o BatchMode=yes $3"
     rlLogInfo "verify_image: SSH_OPTS:'$SSH_OPTS' SSH_USER:'$SSH_USER' SSH_MACHINE: '$SSH_MACHINE'"
     check_root_account "$@"
     if [ "$CHECK_CMDLINE" != 0 ]; then
diff --git a/tests/cli/test_build_and_deploy_azure.sh b/tests/cli/test_build_and_deploy_azure.sh
index 3bb895d9..201eb2ee 100755
--- a/tests/cli/test_build_and_deploy_azure.sh
+++ b/tests/cli/test_build_and_deploy_azure.sh
@@ -139,8 +139,8 @@ __EOF__
     rlPhaseStartTest "Verify VM instance"
         # run generic tests to verify the instance and check if cloud-init is installed and running
         verify_image azure-user "$IP_ADDRESS" "-i $SSH_KEY_DIR/id_rsa"
-        rlRun -t -c "ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i $SSH_KEY_DIR/id_rsa azure-user@$IP_ADDRESS 'rpm -q cloud-init'"
-        rlRun -t -c "ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -i $SSH_KEY_DIR/id_rsa azure-user@$IP_ADDRESS 'systemctl status cloud-init'"
+        rlRun -t -c "ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o BatchMode=yes -i $SSH_KEY_DIR/id_rsa azure-user@$IP_ADDRESS 'rpm -q cloud-init'"
+        rlRun -t -c "ssh -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no -o BatchMode=yes -i $SSH_KEY_DIR/id_rsa azure-user@$IP_ADDRESS 'systemctl status cloud-init'"
     rlPhaseEnd
 
     rlPhaseStartCleanup