diff --git a/tests/cputestdata/cpu-gather.py b/tests/cputestdata/cpu-gather.py
index 10dbeb87cf..49c72df320 100755
--- a/tests/cputestdata/cpu-gather.py
+++ b/tests/cputestdata/cpu-gather.py
@@ -98,6 +98,8 @@ def call_qemu(qemu, qmp_cmds):
         response = json.loads(line)
         if "return" in response and not response["return"]:
             continue
+        if response.get("event") == "SHUTDOWN":
+            continue
         yield response