diff --git a/src/vcpkg.cpp b/src/vcpkg.cpp
index 29a5b5da16..775ddcfc23 100644
--- a/src/vcpkg.cpp
+++ b/src/vcpkg.cpp
@@ -186,7 +186,16 @@ int main(const int argc, const char* const* const argv)
     }
 #endif
     set_environment_variable("VCPKG_COMMAND", get_exe_path_of_current_process().generic_u8string());
+
+    // Prevent child processes (ex. cmake) from producing "colorized"
+    // output (which may include ANSI escape codes), since it would
+    // complicate parsing the output.
+    //
+    // See http://bixense.com/clicolors for the semantics associated with
+    // the CLICOLOR and CLICOLOR_FORCE env variables
+    //
     set_environment_variable("CLICOLOR_FORCE", {});
+    set_environment_variable("CLICOLOR", "0");
 
     Checks::register_global_shutdown_handler([]() {
         const auto elapsed_us_inner = GlobalState::timer.microseconds();