diff --git a/lib/jeannie/cluster.sh b/lib/jeannie/cluster.sh
index 3bb0a77..2a9bd75 100644
--- a/lib/jeannie/cluster.sh
+++ b/lib/jeannie/cluster.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
-# shellcheck disable=SC2140
+# shellcheck disable=SC2140,SC2154
 
 pimox_ssh() {
     local host="$1"
@@ -313,14 +313,19 @@ trap cleanup 0
 
 sudo \"\$qm_bin\" showcmd \"\$vmid\" --pretty >\"\$start_script\"
 if ! awk -v vmid=\"\$vmid\" '
-  NR == 1 && ($1 == "/usr/bin/kvm" || $1 ~ /qemu-system-aarch64$/) { kvm = 1 }
-  $1 == "-id" && $2 == vmid { id = 1 }
+  {
+    for (i = 1; i <= NF; i++) {
+      if ($i == "/usr/bin/kvm" || $i ~ /(^|/)qemu-system-aarch64$/) kvm = 1
+      if ($i == "-id" && (i + 1) <= NF && $(i + 1) == vmid) id = 1
+    }
+  }
   END { exit (kvm && id) ? 0 : 1 }
 ' \"\$start_script\"; then
   echo \"qm showcmd for VM \$vmid did not produce the expected KVM command\" >&2
+  sed 's/^/    showcmd: /' \"\$start_script\" >&2
   exit 1
 fi
-smp_count=\$(awk '$1 == "-smp" { count++ } END { print count + 0 }' \"\$start_script\")
+smp_count=\$(awk '{ for (i = 1; i <= NF; i++) if ($i == "-smp") count++ } END { print count + 0 }' \"\$start_script\")
 if [ \"\$smp_count\" -ne 1 ]; then
   echo \"Expected one native -smp argument for VM \$vmid, found \$smp_count. Remove stale qm args before starting.\" >&2
   exit 1
diff --git a/lib/jeannie/pipeline.sh b/lib/jeannie/pipeline.sh
index c5f197b..6a35082 100644
--- a/lib/jeannie/pipeline.sh
+++ b/lib/jeannie/pipeline.sh
@@ -1553,14 +1553,19 @@ trap cleanup 0
 
 sudo \"\$qm_bin\" showcmd \"\$vmid\" --pretty >\"\$start_script\"
 if ! awk -v vmid=\"\$vmid\" '
-  NR == 1 && (\$1 == "/usr/bin/kvm" || \$1 ~ /qemu-system-aarch64$/) { kvm = 1 }
-  \$1 == "-id" && \$2 == vmid { id = 1 }
+  {
+    for (i = 1; i <= NF; i++) {
+      if (\$i == "/usr/bin/kvm" || \$i ~ /(^|/)qemu-system-aarch64$/) kvm = 1
+      if (\$i == "-id" && (i + 1) <= NF && \$(i + 1) == vmid) id = 1
+    }
+  }
   END { exit (kvm && id) ? 0 : 1 }
 ' \"\$start_script\"; then
   echo \"qm showcmd for VM \$vmid did not produce the expected KVM command\" >&2
+  sed 's/^/    showcmd: /' \"\$start_script\" >&2
   exit 1
 fi
-smp_count=\$(awk '\$1 == "-smp" { count++ } END { print count + 0 }' \"\$start_script\")
+smp_count=\$(awk '{ for (i = 1; i <= NF; i++) if (\$i == "-smp") count++ } END { print count + 0 }' \"\$start_script\")
 if [ \"\$smp_count\" -ne 1 ]; then
   echo \"Expected one native -smp argument for VM \$vmid, found \$smp_count. Remove stale qm args before starting.\" >&2
   exit 1