diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 4db4a9f..97eaf01 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # tox.ini
-# Run tests of wexpect in multiple configuration. 
+# Run tests of wexpect in multiple configuration.
 
 [tox]
 # The following configuration will run automatically.
@@ -12,17 +12,17 @@ description = Unit tests
 setenv =
     spawn_pipe:     WEXPECT_SPAWN_CLASS=SpawnPipe
     legacy_wexpect: WEXPECT_SPAWN_CLASS=legacy_wexpect
-    
+
 commands =
     # install the dependencies:
     pip install .[test]
-    
+
     # Run the test itself
     coverage run -m unittest
-    
+
     # Dump coverage summary to console
-    coverage report --omit tests/*
-    
+    coverage report --omit=tests/*,site-packages/*
+
     # Convert coverage report to standard xml formula the filename includes the tox environment name
     # https://tox.readthedocs.io/en/latest/config.html#environment-variable-substitutions
-    coverage xml --omit tests/* -o {env:TOX_ENV_NAME}_coverage.xml
+    coverage xml --omit=tests/*,site-packages -o {env:TOX_ENV_NAME}_coverage.xml
diff --git a/wexpect/host.py b/wexpect/host.py
index c803cb4..28fcfa5 100644
--- a/wexpect/host.py
+++ b/wexpect/host.py
@@ -646,7 +646,7 @@ class SpawnBase:
                 compiled_pattern_list.append(EOF)
             elif p is TIMEOUT:
                 compiled_pattern_list.append(TIMEOUT)
-            elif type(p) is type(re.compile('')):
+            elif isinstance(p, type(re.compile(''))):
                 compiled_pattern_list.append(p)
             else:
                 logger.warning(
diff --git a/wexpect/wexpect_util.py b/wexpect/wexpect_util.py
index 6fb645c..d48c552 100644
--- a/wexpect/wexpect_util.py
+++ b/wexpect/wexpect_util.py
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ def join_args(args):
     spaces or any of the characters ^!$%&()[]{}=;'+,`~"""
     commandline = []
     for arg in args:
-        if re.search('[\^!$%&()[\]{}=;\'+,`~\s]', arg):
+        if re.search('[\\^!$%&()[\\]{}=;\'+,`~\\s]', arg):
             arg = '"%s"' % arg
         commandline.append(arg)
     return ' '.join(commandline)