diff --git a/src/fmt/example_test.go b/src/fmt/example_test.go
index 7b7eacafb4..a600ebcafb 100644
--- a/src/fmt/example_test.go
+++ b/src/fmt/example_test.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func ExampleSprintf() {
 func ExampleFprintln() {
 	n, err := fmt.Fprintln(os.Stdout, "there", "are", 99, "gophers")
 	if err != nil {
-		panic("failed writing to stdout, someting is seriously wrong")
+		panic(err)
 	}
 	fmt.Print(n)
 	// Output: