diff --git a/src/rcfile.c b/src/rcfile.c
index 83d0ea5e6f04d9c0ee969746d3177c05e153e5d0..a3768bc068679d76165cb1d09283d5eae82aca8e 100644
--- a/src/rcfile.c
+++ b/src/rcfile.c
@@ -453,7 +453,7 @@ void parse_colors(char *ptr, bool icase)
 
     if (syntaxes == NULL) {
 	rcfile_error(
-		N_("Cannot add a color command without a syntax line"));
+		N_("Cannot add a color command without a syntax command"));
 	return;
     }