A shroud of a vacuum cleaner that includes a housing supporting an impeller configured for creating a working airflow path between a dirty air inlet and an exhaust outlet. The shroud includes a forward wall having a shroud inlet, an annular axial wall, and an opening formed in the annular wall. The shroud inlet is configured to be aligned with an inlet of the impeller inlet along an axial direction, and the annular axial wall extends away from an outer perimeter of the forward wall along the axial direction. The opening is configured to be arranged in line with a portion of the exhaust outlet along the radial direction. The annular axial wall and the opening define an overall circumferential perimeter of the shroud. The annular axial wall occupies more than half of the overall circumferential perimeter, and the opening occupies less than half of the overall circumferential perimeter.