diff --git a/src/pkg/syscall/syscall_plan9.go b/src/pkg/syscall/syscall_plan9.go
index eacdd93c9c..16f8e7337e 100644
--- a/src/pkg/syscall/syscall_plan9.go
+++ b/src/pkg/syscall/syscall_plan9.go
@@ -245,6 +245,10 @@ func Await(w *Waitmsg) (err Error) {
 	w.Time[1] = uint32(atoi(f[2]))
 	w.Time[2] = uint32(atoi(f[3]))
 	w.Msg = cstring(f[4])
+	if w.Msg == "''" {
+		// await() returns '' for no error
+		w.Msg = ""
+	}
 	return
 }