diff --git a/src/wordsplit.c b/src/wordsplit.c
index 1045ca8..c9bd9cb 100644
--- a/src/wordsplit.c
+++ b/src/wordsplit.c
@@ -1083,7 +1083,7 @@ expvar (struct wordsplit *wsp, const char *str, size_t len,
 			wsp->ws_error ("%.*s: %s",
 				       (int) i, str, ws.ws_wordv[0]);
 		      else
-			wsp->ws_error (_("%.*s: %.*s"),
+			wsp->ws_error ("%.*s: %.*s",
 				       (int) i, str, (int) size, defstr);
 		      wordsplit_free (&ws);
 		    }