diff --git a/src/util/util.c b/src/util/util.c
index 41dbefd294c2f6c0279a617a2fa056fae88f09cb..7d3377b5046f0ea8dbb571ebb839a7b404ae17c2 100644
--- a/src/util/util.c
+++ b/src/util/util.c
@@ -617,7 +617,7 @@ __virExec(const char *const*argv,
 
         if (chdir("/") < 0) {
             virReportSystemError(errno,
-                                 "%s", _("cannot change to root directory: %s"));
+                                 "%s", _("cannot change to root directory"));
             goto fork_error;
         }