diff --git a/src/g_readwrite.c b/src/g_readwrite.c
index 7a0753741bebde88c05dae49b0666f382413d108..8cf9149092f7f2e29fc05894d447454c102981d0 100644
--- a/src/g_readwrite.c
+++ b/src/g_readwrite.c
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ int glist_readscalar(t_glist *x, int natoms, t_atom *vec,
 static void canvas_readerror(int natoms, t_atom *vec, int message, 
     int nline, char *s)
 {
-    error(s);
+    error("%s", s);
     startpost("line was:");
     postatom(nline, vec + message);
     endpost();