diff --git a/gcc/cobol/genapi.cc b/gcc/cobol/genapi.cc
index 45d42ad2a0c962faa1364335bc10299ff7e7a04d..9f55e255aa19296207add5ba4a72ce9bf2dcdbb8 100644
--- a/gcc/cobol/genapi.cc
+++ b/gcc/cobol/genapi.cc
@@ -3466,7 +3466,7 @@ parser_leave_file()
   if( file_level == 0 && next_program_is_main )
     {
     cbl_error(
-         "error: -main switch says \"%s\" should contain the"
+         "-main switch says \"%s\" should contain the"
          " starting program, but none was found", 
          current_filename.back().c_str());
     }