diff --git a/support/testing/infra/emulator.py b/support/testing/infra/emulator.py
index 4be7e9598b..d0f190b924 100644
--- a/support/testing/infra/emulator.py
+++ b/support/testing/infra/emulator.py
@@ -137,6 +137,9 @@ class Emulator(object):
             self.qemu.expect("Password:")
             self.qemu.sendline(password)
 
+        self.connect_shell()
+
+    def connect_shell(self):
         extra_init_cmd = " && ".join([
             'export PAGER=cat',
             'dmesg -n 1',