diff --git a/tests/generic_config_updater/test_portchannel_interface.py b/tests/generic_config_updater/test_portchannel_interface.py
index 288bab0c1bb..047de48b439 100644
--- a/tests/generic_config_updater/test_portchannel_interface.py
+++ b/tests/generic_config_updater/test_portchannel_interface.py
@@ -247,7 +247,12 @@ def verify_attr_change(duthost, po_name, attr, value):
             ...
     """
     if attr == "mtu":
-        output = duthost.shell("show interfaces status | grep -w '^{}' | awk '{{print $4}}'".format(po_name))
+        cmd = (
+            "show interfaces status | "
+            "grep -w '^[[:space:]]*{}' | "
+            "awk '{{print $4}}'"
+        ).format(po_name)
+        output = duthost.shell(cmd)
 
         pytest_assert(output['stdout'] == value, "{} attribute {} failed to change to {}".format(po_name, attr, value))
     elif attr == "min_links":