diff --git a/tests/5_container_runtime.sh b/tests/5_container_runtime.sh
index 4fcc29e..cf24d72 100644
--- a/tests/5_container_runtime.sh
+++ b/tests/5_container_runtime.sh
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ else
   fail=0
   printcheck=0
   for c in $containers; do
-    processes=$(docker exec "$c" ps -el 2>/dev/null | tail -n +2 | grep -v "ps -el" | wc -l | tr -d ' ')
+    processes=$(docker exec "$c" ps -el 2>/dev/null | tail -n +2 | grep -c -v "ps -el")
     if [ "$processes" -gt 1 ]; then
       # If it's the first container, fail the test
       if [ $fail -eq 0 ]; then