diff --git a/builtin/update-index.c b/builtin/update-index.c
index 1c94ca59bfc..b8b85222493 100644
--- a/builtin/update-index.c
+++ b/builtin/update-index.c
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ static int process_lstat_error(const char *path, int err)
 {
 	if (err == ENOENT || err == ENOTDIR)
 		return remove_one_path(path);
-	return error("lstat(\"%s\"): %s", path, strerror(errno));
+	return error("lstat(\"%s\"): %s", path, strerror(err));
 }
 
 static int add_one_path(const struct cache_entry *old, const char *path, int len, struct stat *st)