diff --git a/Meta/CMake/processor-count.cmake b/Meta/CMake/processor-count.cmake
index d77786de4c2..f0bf79f929a 100644
--- a/Meta/CMake/processor-count.cmake
+++ b/Meta/CMake/processor-count.cmake
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 include(ProcessorCount)
 ProcessorCount(N)
-message("${N}")
+# Executing echo here allows us to print to the standard output,
+# to separate the processor count from potential errors
+execute_process(COMMAND "${CMAKE_COMMAND}" -E echo "${N}")
diff --git a/Meta/serenity.sh b/Meta/serenity.sh
index 1d0e5f356ad..50a5f8efb77 100755
--- a/Meta/serenity.sh
+++ b/Meta/serenity.sh
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ build_target() {
     fi
 
     # Get either the environment MAKEJOBS or all processors via CMake
-    [ -z "$MAKEJOBS" ] && MAKEJOBS=$(cmake -P "$SERENITY_SOURCE_DIR/Meta/CMake/processor-count.cmake" 2>&1)
+    [ -z "$MAKEJOBS" ] && MAKEJOBS=$(cmake -P "$SERENITY_SOURCE_DIR/Meta/CMake/processor-count.cmake")
 
     # With zero args, we are doing a standard "build"
     # With multiple args, we are doing an install/image/run