diff --git a/core/src/main/java/hudson/util/StreamTaskListener.java b/core/src/main/java/hudson/util/StreamTaskListener.java
index d182a7c658d4ec89ab9764d9fa54926163eed21d..1d46c4d919d7d3d69e5e9295e0ec54bf3e967e46 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/hudson/util/StreamTaskListener.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/hudson/util/StreamTaskListener.java
@@ -56,8 +56,8 @@ public final class StreamTaskListener implements TaskListener, Serializable {
         return new PrintWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(out),true);
     }
 
-    public void error(String format, Object... args) {
-        out.printf(format,args);
+    public PrintWriter error(String format, Object... args) {
+        return error(String.format(format,args));
     }
 
     public PrintWriter fatalError(String msg) {