diff --git a/po/de.po b/po/de.po
index fbad820f8..5c4a2439a 100644
--- a/po/de.po
+++ b/po/de.po
@@ -79,10 +79,6 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "$status is not valid as a command. See `help %s`"
 msgstr "$status ist kein gültiger Befehl. Siehe `help %s`"
 
-#, c-format
-msgid "%.*s: invalid conversion specification"
-msgstr "%.*s: Ungültige Umwandlungsspezifikation"
-
 #, c-format
 msgid "%s"
 msgstr ""
@@ -727,6 +723,10 @@ msgstr "%s: Brauche Funktionsnamen"
 msgid "%s: given %d indexes but %d values\n"
 msgstr ""
 
+#, c-format
+msgid "%s: invalid conversion specification"
+msgstr "%s: Ungültige Umwandlungsspezifikation"
+
 #, c-format
 msgid "%s: invalid option combination\n"
 msgstr "%s: ungültige Optionskombination\n"
diff --git a/po/en.po b/po/en.po
index 7a1f9e32e..1b04e2404 100644
--- a/po/en.po
+++ b/po/en.po
@@ -77,10 +77,6 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "$status is not valid as a command. See `help %s`"
 msgstr ""
 
-#, c-format
-msgid "%.*s: invalid conversion specification"
-msgstr "%.*s: invalid conversion specification"
-
 #, c-format
 msgid "%s"
 msgstr ""
@@ -725,6 +721,10 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "%s: given %d indexes but %d values\n"
 msgstr ""
 
+#, c-format
+msgid "%s: invalid conversion specification"
+msgstr "%s: invalid conversion specification"
+
 #, c-format
 msgid "%s: invalid option combination\n"
 msgstr ""
diff --git a/po/fr.po b/po/fr.po
index 1e6a0edf1..38907eac6 100644
--- a/po/fr.po
+++ b/po/fr.po
@@ -208,10 +208,6 @@ msgstr "$@ n’est pas supporté. Dans fish, veuillez utiliser $argv."
 msgid "$status is not valid as a command. See `help %s`"
 msgstr "$status n’est pas une commande valide. Voir « help %s »"
 
-#, c-format
-msgid "%.*s: invalid conversion specification"
-msgstr "%.*s : spécification de conversion invalide"
-
 #, c-format
 msgid "%s"
 msgstr "%s"
@@ -856,6 +852,10 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "%s: given %d indexes but %d values\n"
 msgstr ""
 
+#, c-format
+msgid "%s: invalid conversion specification"
+msgstr "%s : spécification de conversion invalide"
+
 #, c-format
 msgid "%s: invalid option combination\n"
 msgstr ""
diff --git a/po/pl.po b/po/pl.po
index 2e218af75..ab2cfaacd 100644
--- a/po/pl.po
+++ b/po/pl.po
@@ -73,10 +73,6 @@ msgstr "$@ nie jest obsługiwane. W fish używane jest $argv."
 msgid "$status is not valid as a command. See `help %s`"
 msgstr ""
 
-#, c-format
-msgid "%.*s: invalid conversion specification"
-msgstr ""
-
 #, c-format
 msgid "%s"
 msgstr ""
@@ -721,6 +717,10 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "%s: given %d indexes but %d values\n"
 msgstr ""
 
+#, c-format
+msgid "%s: invalid conversion specification"
+msgstr ""
+
 #, c-format
 msgid "%s: invalid option combination\n"
 msgstr ""
diff --git a/po/pt_BR.po b/po/pt_BR.po
index 22c74b2f3..26028ccb9 100644
--- a/po/pt_BR.po
+++ b/po/pt_BR.po
@@ -78,10 +78,6 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "$status is not valid as a command. See `help %s`"
 msgstr ""
 
-#, c-format
-msgid "%.*s: invalid conversion specification"
-msgstr "%.*s: especificação de conversão inválida"
-
 #, c-format
 msgid "%s"
 msgstr ""
@@ -726,6 +722,10 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "%s: given %d indexes but %d values\n"
 msgstr ""
 
+#, c-format
+msgid "%s: invalid conversion specification"
+msgstr "%s: especificação de conversão inválida"
+
 #, c-format
 msgid "%s: invalid option combination\n"
 msgstr ""
diff --git a/po/sv.po b/po/sv.po
index 483b0ac35..6f7669d2f 100644
--- a/po/sv.po
+++ b/po/sv.po
@@ -74,10 +74,6 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "$status is not valid as a command. See `help %s`"
 msgstr ""
 
-#, c-format
-msgid "%.*s: invalid conversion specification"
-msgstr ""
-
 #, c-format
 msgid "%s"
 msgstr ""
@@ -722,6 +718,10 @@ msgstr ""
 msgid "%s: given %d indexes but %d values\n"
 msgstr ""
 
+#, c-format
+msgid "%s: invalid conversion specification"
+msgstr ""
+
 #, c-format
 msgid "%s: invalid option combination\n"
 msgstr ""
diff --git a/po/zh_CN.po b/po/zh_CN.po
index 704efe922..497ddbf4c 100644
--- a/po/zh_CN.po
+++ b/po/zh_CN.po
@@ -100,10 +100,6 @@ msgstr "不支持 $@。在 fish 中，请使用 $argv。"
 msgid "$status is not valid as a command. See `help %s`"
 msgstr "$status 不是有效的命令。参见 `help %s`"
 
-#, c-format
-msgid "%.*s: invalid conversion specification"
-msgstr "%.*s: 无效的转换规范"
-
 #, c-format
 msgid "%s"
 msgstr "%s"
@@ -748,6 +744,10 @@ msgstr "%s: 函数名称是必须的"
 msgid "%s: given %d indexes but %d values\n"
 msgstr "%s: 给定索引 %d 但只有 %d 个值\n"
 
+#, c-format
+msgid "%s: invalid conversion specification"
+msgstr "%s: 无效的转换规范"
+
 #, c-format
 msgid "%s: invalid option combination\n"
 msgstr "%s: 无效的选项组合\n"
diff --git a/po/zh_TW.po b/po/zh_TW.po
index d1716e4b9..2cdf3a9a8 100644
--- a/po/zh_TW.po
+++ b/po/zh_TW.po
@@ -73,10 +73,6 @@ msgstr "不支援 $@。在 fish 中請使用 $argv。"
 msgid "$status is not valid as a command. See `help %s`"
 msgstr "$status 不是有效的命令。參見「help %s」"
 
-#, c-format
-msgid "%.*s: invalid conversion specification"
-msgstr "%.*s：轉換規格無效"
-
 #, c-format
 msgid "%s"
 msgstr "%s"
@@ -721,6 +717,10 @@ msgstr "%s：需要函式名稱"
 msgid "%s: given %d indexes but %d values\n"
 msgstr "%s：指定了 %d 個索引卻有 %d 個值\n"
 
+#, c-format
+msgid "%s: invalid conversion specification"
+msgstr "%s：轉換規格無效"
+
 #, c-format
 msgid "%s: invalid option combination\n"
 msgstr "%s：無效的選項組合\n"
diff --git a/src/builtins/printf.rs b/src/builtins/printf.rs
index 8ba7df1ad..f01a52e02 100644
--- a/src/builtins/printf.rs
+++ b/src/builtins/printf.rs
@@ -526,10 +526,12 @@ fn print_formatted(&mut self, format: &wstr, mut argv: &[&wstr]) -> usize {
 
                     let conversion = f.char_at(0);
                     if (conversion as usize) > 0xFF || !ok[conversion as usize] {
+                        let directive = &directive_start[0..directive_start
+                            .len()
+                            .min(wstr_offset_in(f, directive_start) + 1)];
                         self.fatal_error(wgettext_fmt!(
-                            "%.*s: invalid conversion specification",
-                            wstr_offset_in(f, directive_start) + 1,
-                            directive_start
+                            "%s: invalid conversion specification",
+                            directive
                         ));
                         return 0;
                     }