diff --git a/src/hydra-queue-runner/builder.cc b/src/hydra-queue-runner/builder.cc
index 37022522..7e0777cd 100644
--- a/src/hydra-queue-runner/builder.cc
+++ b/src/hydra-queue-runner/builder.cc
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ State::StepResult State::doBuildStep(nix::ref<Store> destStore,
                 result.canRetry = false;
             } else {
                 result.stepStatus = bsAborted;
-                result.errorMsg = e.msg();
+                result.errorMsg = filterANSIEscapes(e.msg(), true);
                 result.canRetry = true;
             }
         }