diff --git a/misc/error.c b/misc/error.c
index e5d5588434..b229d56c42 100644
--- a/misc/error.c
+++ b/misc/error.c
@@ -212,7 +212,6 @@ error_tail (int status, int errnum, const char *message, va_list args,
 #else
   vfprintf (stderr, message, args);
 #endif
-  va_end (args);
 
   ++error_message_count;
   if (errnum)