diff --git a/src/wordsplit.c b/src/wordsplit.c
index e326c8c..9381ae7 100644
--- a/src/wordsplit.c
+++ b/src/wordsplit.c
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
 static void
 _wsplt_alloc_die (struct wordsplit *wsp)
 {
-  wsp->ws_error (_("memory exhausted"));
+  wsp->ws_error ("%s", _("memory exhausted"));
   abort ();
 }
 
@@ -2330,7 +2330,7 @@ wordsplit_perror (struct wordsplit *wsp)
       break;
 
     default:
-      wsp->ws_error (wordsplit_strerror (wsp));
+      wsp->ws_error ("%s", wordsplit_strerror (wsp));
     }
 }