diff --git a/test/sanity/code-smell/no-list-cmp.sh b/test/sanity/code-smell/no-list-cmp.sh
index d5db30ba75..b71c112b8a 100755
--- a/test/sanity/code-smell/no-list-cmp.sh
+++ b/test/sanity/code-smell/no-list-cmp.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
-CMP_USERS=$(grep -rI ' cmp[^a-zA-Z0-9_]' . \
+CMP_USERS=$(grep -rI ' cmp[^a-zA-Z0-9_:=]' . \
 	--exclude-dir .tox \
 	| grep -v \
 	-e lib/ansible/module_utils/six/_six.py \