diff --git a/src/cmd/vet/print.go b/src/cmd/vet/print.go
index 90fd4ed379..a55da1d3c8 100644
--- a/src/cmd/vet/print.go
+++ b/src/cmd/vet/print.go
@@ -259,6 +259,20 @@ func checkPrintfFwd(pkg *Package, w *printfWrapper, call *ast.CallExpr, kind int
 	}
 
 	if !call.Ellipsis.IsValid() {
+		typ, ok := pkg.types[call.Fun].Type.(*types.Signature)
+		if !ok {
+			return
+		}
+		if len(call.Args) > typ.Params().Len() {
+			// If we're passing more arguments than what the
+			// print/printf function can take, adding an ellipsis
+			// would break the program. For example:
+			//
+			//   func foo(arg1 string, arg2 ...interface{} {
+			//       fmt.Printf("%s %v", arg1, arg2)
+			//   }
+			return
+		}
 		if !vcfg.VetxOnly {
 			desc := "printf"
 			if kind == kindPrint {
diff --git a/src/cmd/vet/testdata/print.go b/src/cmd/vet/testdata/print.go
index 7c0cbcf05a..ecafed5fa2 100644
--- a/src/cmd/vet/testdata/print.go
+++ b/src/cmd/vet/testdata/print.go
@@ -446,6 +446,10 @@ func (*ptrStringer) BadWrapf(x int, format string, args ...interface{}) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf(format, args) // ERROR "missing ... in args forwarded to printf-like function"
 }
 
+func (*ptrStringer) WrapfFalsePositive(x int, arg1 string, arg2 ...interface{}) string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s %v", arg1, arg2)
+}
+
 type embeddedStringer struct {
 	foo string
 	ptrStringer