diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index a1ca307c432d6066e0c8765a0564e1ace1cad5a5..fffcc8e9da5a864ae70917b72f9f092b41e5d1b2 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -1510,9 +1510,9 @@ virDomainDefSetVcpus(virDomainDefPtr def,
     size_t i;
 
     if (vcpus > def->maxvcpus) {
-        virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
-                       _("maxvcpus must not be less than current vcpus (%u < %zu)"),
-                       vcpus, def->maxvcpus);
+        virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED, "%s",
+                       _("maximum vCPU count must not be less than current "
+                         "vCPU count"));
         return -1;
     }