diff --git a/test/integration/component/test_egress_rules.py b/test/integration/component/test_egress_rules.py
index eb38c1a7a9f..590f72a7cd3 100644
--- a/test/integration/component/test_egress_rules.py
+++ b/test/integration/component/test_egress_rules.py
@@ -1439,8 +1439,7 @@ class TestMultipleAccountsEgressRuleNeg(cloudstackTestCase):
         try:
             self.debug("SSHing into VM type B from VM A")
             self.debug("VM IP: %s" % self.virtual_machineB.ssh_ip)
-            res = ssh.execute("ssh %s@%s" % (
-                                self.services["virtual_machine"]["username"],
+            res = ssh.execute("ssh -o 'BatchMode=yes' %s" % (
                                 self.virtual_machineB.ssh_ip
                                 ))
             self.debug("SSH result: %s" % str(res))
@@ -1450,10 +1449,14 @@ class TestMultipleAccountsEgressRuleNeg(cloudstackTestCase):
                       (self.virtual_machineA.ipaddress, e)
                       )
         result = str(res)
-        self.assertEqual(
-                    result.count("Connection timed out"),
-                    1,
-                    "SSH into management server from VM should not be successful"
+
+        # SSH failure may result in one of the following three error messages
+        ssh_failure_result_set = ["ssh: connect to host %s port 22: No route to host" % self.virtual_machineB.ssh_ip,
+                                  "ssh: connect to host %s port 22: Connection timed out" % self.virtual_machineB.ssh_ip,
+                                  "Host key verification failed."]
+
+        self.assertFalse(set(res).isdisjoint(ssh_failure_result_set),
+                    "SSH into VM of other account should not be successful"
                     )
         return