diff --git a/reframe/core/pipeline.py b/reframe/core/pipeline.py
index 09e14e90e4..7450261429 100644
--- a/reframe/core/pipeline.py
+++ b/reframe/core/pipeline.py
@@ -1396,7 +1396,7 @@ def run(self):
         commands = [
             *prepare_cmds,
             *self.prerun_cmds,
-            ' '.join(exec_cmd),
+            ' '.join(exec_cmd).strip(),
             *self.postrun_cmds
         ]
         user_environ = env.Environment(type(self).__name__,