diff --git a/po/ChangeLog b/po/ChangeLog
index 541b8a28ab..f86c2db586 100644
--- a/po/ChangeLog
+++ b/po/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 2005-07-25 Matthias Clasen <mclasen@redhat.com>
 
+	* Makefile.in.in: Call msgfmt with -c to catch
+	format string errors.
+
 	* ar.po: Add a missing Plural-Forms declaration, copied
 	from ar.po in nautilus.
 
diff --git a/po/Makefile.in.in b/po/Makefile.in.in
index ca12eee80b..6ba6fec2ef 100644
--- a/po/Makefile.in.in
+++ b/po/Makefile.in.in
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ INSTOBJEXT = @INSTOBJEXT@
 
 .po.gmo:
 	file=$(srcdir)/`echo $* | sed 's,.*/,,'`.gmo \
-	  && rm -f $$file && $(GMSGFMT) -o $$file $<
+	  && rm -f $$file && $(GMSGFMT) -c -o $$file $<
 
 .po.cat:
 	sed -f ../intl/po2msg.sed < $< > $*.msg \