diff --git a/charmhelpers/contrib/charmsupport/nrpe.py b/charmhelpers/contrib/charmsupport/nrpe.py
index a5185c236..f79a7e9bf 100644
--- a/charmhelpers/contrib/charmsupport/nrpe.py
+++ b/charmhelpers/contrib/charmsupport/nrpe.py
@@ -528,7 +528,7 @@ def enable_sudo_for_openvswitch_checks():
     sudoers_dir = "/etc/sudoers.d"
     sudoers_mode = 0o100440
     ovs_sudoers_file = "99-check_openvswitch"
-    ovs_sudoers_entry = "nagios ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/ovs-vsctl show"
+    ovs_sudoers_entry = "nagios ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/ovs-vsctl --format=json list Interface"
     dest = os.path.join(sudoers_dir, ovs_sudoers_file)
     try:
         with open(dest, "w") as sudoer_file:
diff --git a/charmhelpers/contrib/openstack/files/check_openvswitch.py b/charmhelpers/contrib/openstack/files/check_openvswitch.py
index b9c373d28..7b26a4896 100755
--- a/charmhelpers/contrib/openstack/files/check_openvswitch.py
+++ b/charmhelpers/contrib/openstack/files/check_openvswitch.py
@@ -1,19 +1,20 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 # -*- coding: us-ascii -*-
-"""Check for issues with NVME hardware devices."""
+"""Check for OVS interface errors."""
 
 import argparse
-import re
+import json
 import subprocess
 import sys
 
+# dependence on nagios_plugin3 being installed by charm-nrpe
 from nagios_plugin3 import CriticalError, UnknownError, try_check
 
 
 def parse_ovs_status():
     """Check for errors in 'ovs-vsctl show' output."""
     try:
-        cmd = ["/usr/bin/sudo", "/usr/bin/ovs-vsctl", "show"]
+        cmd = ["/usr/bin/sudo", "/usr/bin/ovs-vsctl", "--format=json", "list", "Interface"]
         ovs_output = subprocess.check_output(cmd, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
     except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
         raise UnknownError(
@@ -21,19 +22,23 @@ def parse_ovs_status():
                 e.output.decode(errors="ignore").rstrip()
             )
         )
+    ovs_interfaces = json.loads(ovs_output.decode(errors="ignore"))
+    ovs_interface_errors = []
+    for i in ovs_interfaces["data"]:
+        # OVSDB internal data is formatted per RFC 7047 5.1
+        iface = dict(zip(ovs_interfaces["headings"], i))
+        error = iface["error"]
+        if isinstance(error, list) and len(error) == 2 and error[0] == "set":
+            # deserialize the set data into csv string elements
+            error = ",".join(error[1])
+        if error:
+            ovs_interface_errors.append("Error on iface {}: {}".format(iface["name"], error))
 
-    ovs_vsctl_show_errors = []
-    ovs_error_re = re.compile(r"^.*error: (?P<message>.+)$", re.I)
-    for line in ovs_output.decode(errors="ignore").splitlines():
-        m = ovs_error_re.match(line)
-        if m:
-            ovs_vsctl_show_errors.append(m.group("message"))
-
-    if ovs_vsctl_show_errors:
-        numerrs = len(ovs_vsctl_show_errors)
+    if ovs_interface_errors:
+        numerrs = len(ovs_interface_errors)
         raise CriticalError(
-            "CRITICAL: Found {} error(s) in ovs-vsctl show: "
-            "{}".format(numerrs, ", ".join(ovs_vsctl_show_errors))
+            "CRITICAL: Found {} error(s) in OVSDB: "
+            "{}".format(numerrs, ", ".join(ovs_interface_errors))
         )
 
     print("OK: no errors found in openvswitch")