diff --git a/src/libutil/file-system.cc b/src/libutil/file-system.cc
index 6fe93b63a..3c18a97b1 100644
--- a/src/libutil/file-system.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/file-system.cc
@@ -680,7 +680,7 @@ void setWriteTime(
         if (utimes(path.c_str(), times) == -1)
             throw SysError("changing modification time of %s (not a symlink)", path);
     } else {
-        throw Error("Cannot modification time of symlink %s", path);
+        throw Error("Cannot change modification time of symlink %s", path);
     }
 #endif
 #endif