diff --git a/libebtc.c b/libebtc.c
index 2feefe9..af95694 100644
--- a/libebtc.c
+++ b/libebtc.c
@@ -1272,8 +1272,8 @@
 		vsnprintf(ebt_errormsg, ERRORMSG_MAXLEN, format, l);
 		va_end(l);
 	} else {
-		vprintf(format, l);
-		printf(".\n");
+		vfprintf(stderr, format, l);
+		fprintf(stderr, ".\n");
 		va_end(l);
 		exit (-1);
 	}