diff --git a/gpg-interface.c b/gpg-interface.c
index 3dc2fe397e3..20612fe5017 100644
--- a/gpg-interface.c
+++ b/gpg-interface.c
@@ -219,11 +219,9 @@ int verify_signed_buffer(const char *payload, size_t payload_size,
 	args_gpg[0] = gpg_program;
 	fd = git_mkstemp(path, PATH_MAX, ".git_vtag_tmpXXXXXX");
 	if (fd < 0)
-		return error(_("could not create temporary file '%s': %s"),
-			     path, strerror(errno));
+		return error_errno(_("could not create temporary file '%s'"), path);
 	if (write_in_full(fd, signature, signature_size) < 0)
-		return error(_("failed writing detached signature to '%s': %s"),
-			     path, strerror(errno));
+		return error_errno(_("failed writing detached signature to '%s'"), path);
 	close(fd);
 
 	gpg.argv = args_gpg;