diff --git a/hack/verify-external-dependencies-version.sh b/hack/verify-external-dependencies-version.sh
index 56f18f7eeb6..7df08058a64 100755
--- a/hack/verify-external-dependencies-version.sh
+++ b/hack/verify-external-dependencies-version.sh
@@ -38,7 +38,9 @@ cd -
 # Prefer full path for running zeitgeist
 ZEITGEIST_BIN="$(which zeitgeist)"
 
+# TODO: revert sed hack when zetigeist respects CLICOLOR/ttys
 CLICOLOR=0 "${ZEITGEIST_BIN}" validate \
   --local \
   --base-path "${KUBE_ROOT}" \
-  --config "${KUBE_ROOT}"/build/dependencies.yaml
+  --config "${KUBE_ROOT}"/build/dependencies.yaml \
+  2> >(sed -e $'s/\x1b\[[0-9;]*m//g' >&2)