diff --git a/test/functional/test_runner.py b/test/functional/test_runner.py
--- a/test/functional/test_runner.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_runner.py
@@ -472,9 +472,9 @@
     ##
 
     # Start our result collection thread.
-    t = threading.Thread(target=handle_update_messages)
-    t.daemon = True
-    t.start()
+    resultCollector = threading.Thread(target=handle_update_messages)
+    resultCollector.daemon = True
+    resultCollector.start()
 
     # Start some worker threads
     for j in range(num_jobs):