diff --git a/tests/search.sh b/tests/search.sh
index f320e0ec1..41b706ac6 100644
--- a/tests/search.sh
+++ b/tests/search.sh
@@ -28,13 +28,14 @@ nix search -f search.nix '' |grep -q hello
 
 e=$'\x1b' # grep doesn't support \e, \033 or even \x1b
 # Multiple overlapping regexes
-(( $(nix search -f search.nix '' 'oo' 'foo' 'oo' | grep "$e\[32;1mfoo$e\\[0;1m" | wc -l) == 1 ))
-(( $(nix search -f search.nix '' 'broken b' 'en bar' | grep "$e\[32;1mbroken bar$e\\[0m" | wc -l) == 1 ))
+(( $(nix search -f search.nix '' 'oo' 'foo' 'oo' | grep -c "$e\[32;1mfoo$e\\[0;1m") == 1 ))
+(( $(nix search -f search.nix '' 'broken b' 'en bar' | grep -c "$e\[32;1mbroken bar$e\\[0m") == 1 ))
 
 # Multiple matches
 # Searching for 'o' should yield the 'o' in 'broken bar', the 'oo' in foo and 'o' in hello
-(( $(nix search -f search.nix '' 'o' | grep -Eo "$e\[32;1mo{1,2}$e\[(0|0;1)m" | wc -l) == 3 ))
+(( $(nix search -f search.nix '' 'o' | grep -Eoc "$e\[32;1mo{1,2}$e\[(0|0;1)m") == 3 ))
 # Searching for 'b' should yield the 'b' in bar and the two 'b's in 'broken bar'
+# NOTE: This does not work with `grep -c` because it counts the two 'b's in 'broken bar' as one matched line
 (( $(nix search -f search.nix '' 'b' | grep -Eo "$e\[32;1mb$e\[(0|0;1)m" | wc -l) == 3 ))
 
 ## Tests for --exclude