diff --git a/test/simpletap/__init__.py b/test/simpletap/__init__.py
index 26ff3b108..df52f5a20 100644
--- a/test/simpletap/__init__.py
+++ b/test/simpletap/__init__.py
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@ class TAPTestResult(unittest.result.TestResult):
             self.stream.writeln("# {0}: {1}".format(status, exception))
             padding = " " * (len(status) + 3)
             for line in msg.splitlines():
+                # Force displaying new-line characters as literal new lines
+                line = line.replace("\\n", "\n")
                 self.stream.writeln("#{0}{1}".format(padding, line))
         else:
             self.stream.writeln("ok {0} - {1}".format(self.testsRun, desc))