diff --git a/usr.sbin/chown/chown.c b/usr.sbin/chown/chown.c
index 7a22292731d4..0b09813a7e63 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/chown/chown.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/chown/chown.c
@@ -262,9 +262,7 @@ id(const char *name, const char *type)
 	 */
 	errno = 0;
 	val = strtoul(name, &ep, 10);
-	if (errno)
-		err(1, "%s", name);
-	if (*ep != '\0')
+	if (errno || *ep != '\0')
 		errx(1, "%s: illegal %s name", name, type);
 	return (val);
 }