diff --git a/qemu-error.c b/qemu-error.c
index 5d5fe3742f..14ec14f39f 100644
--- a/qemu-error.c
+++ b/qemu-error.c
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ void error_print_loc(void)
         error_printf(" ");
         break;
     default:
-        error_printf(sep);
+        error_printf("%s", sep);
     }
 }