diff --git a/hmmlconv/hmmlconv.c b/hmmlconv/hmmlconv.c
index 24c1c99..690411e 100644
--- a/hmmlconv/hmmlconv.c
+++ b/hmmlconv/hmmlconv.c
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ void ProcessAnnotation(char *Line, int LineNumber, FILE *OutFile)
     char *LinePtr = Line;
     if(!(Line = InPlaceUnescape(Line)))
     {
-        LError("Syntax error, missing closing \": %.*s\n", Line-LinePtr, LinePtr); exit(1);
+        LError("Syntax error, invalid quoting in %.*s\n", Line-LinePtr, LinePtr); exit(1);
     }
 
     // convert author