diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/tty.py b/lib/spack/spack/tty.py
index 5a2ba922757..df4760df40a 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/tty.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/tty.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 indent = "  "
 
 def msg(message, *args):
-    cprint("@*b{==>} @*{%s}" % cescape(message))
+    cprint("@*b{==>} %s" % cescape(message))
     for arg in args:
         print indent + str(arg)