diff --git a/lib/libarchive/archive_util.c b/lib/libarchive/archive_util.c
index 77b74ff583d7..de9656d4b810 100644
--- a/lib/libarchive/archive_util.c
+++ b/lib/libarchive/archive_util.c
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ archive_error_string(struct archive *a)
 	if (a->error != NULL  &&  *a->error != '\0')
 		return (a->error);
 	else
-		return (NULL);
+		return ("(Empty error message)");
 }