diff --git a/teuthology/orchestra/console.py b/teuthology/orchestra/console.py
index ade67e46b..3afed56c4 100644
--- a/teuthology/orchestra/console.py
+++ b/teuthology/orchestra/console.py
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ def _pexpect_spawn(self, cmd):
         p = pexpect.spawn(
             cmd,
             encoding='utf-8',
+            codec_errors="backslashreplace",
         )
         p.logfile_read = io.StringIO()
         return p