diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index c45e0d7cd45bac90c4376f8e0f9c1ad841785aea..8e22a09681071e58619c0fb2fa1960ce5f3422a4 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ CVS code -
 	- Open all files in binary mode for consistency and robustness.
 	  Changes to load_history() and do_rcfile(). (DLR)
 - files.c:
+  open_file()
+	- Remove redundant wording in the error message when we try to
+	  open a device file. (DLR)
   safe_tempfile()
 	- Don't ignore $TMPDIR if it's set but blank, for consistency.
 	  (DLR)
diff --git a/src/files.c b/src/files.c
index 04b4b42b3f296adaadb91eaa48db41afbecf43de..24bea8adf5488d636b0221f7b250fdd6afb9d152 100644
--- a/src/files.c
+++ b/src/files.c
@@ -603,7 +603,7 @@ int open_file(const char *filename, bool newfie, FILE **f)
 	 * Sorry, /dev/sndstat! */
 	statusbar(S_ISDIR(fileinfo.st_mode) ?
 		_("\"%s\" is a directory") :
-		_("File \"%s\" is a device file"), filename);
+		_("\"%s\" is a device file"), filename);
 	beep();
 	return -1;
     } else if ((fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY)) == -1) {