diff --git a/src/util/viridentity.c b/src/util/viridentity.c
index eb77f69e2e..c18326c8cb 100644
--- a/src/util/viridentity.c
+++ b/src/util/viridentity.c
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ virIdentityEnsureSystemToken(void)
     } else {
         if (virFileReadLimFD(fd, TOKEN_STRLEN, &token) < 0) {
             virReportSystemError(errno,
-                                 _("Failed to write system token '%s'"),
+                                 _("Failed to read system token '%s'"),
                                  tokenfile);
             return NULL;
         }