diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils/display.py b/lib/ansible/utils/display.py
index e94c8f0397b..220bbd381dd 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils/display.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils/display.py
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ class Display:
         """ Display a message to the user
 
         Note: msg *must* be a unicode string to prevent UnicodeError tracebacks.
-        """ 
+        """
 
         # FIXME: this needs to be implemented
         #msg = utils.sanitize_output(msg)
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ class Display:
             wrapped = textwrap.wrap(new_msg, self.columns)
             new_msg = u"\n".join(wrapped) + u"\n"
         else:
-            new_msg = u"ERROR! " + msg
+            new_msg = u"ERROR! %s" % msg
         if new_msg not in self._errors:
             self.display(new_msg, color=C.COLOR_ERROR, stderr=True)
             self._errors[new_msg] = 1