diff --git a/src/pacman/conf.c b/src/pacman/conf.c
index 6a2b2067..f02e3612 100644
--- a/src/pacman/conf.c
+++ b/src/pacman/conf.c
@@ -95,7 +95,9 @@ config_t *config_new(void)
 	config_t *newconfig = calloc(1, sizeof(config_t));
 	if(!newconfig) {
 		pm_printf(ALPM_LOG_ERROR,
-				_("malloc failure: could not allocate %zd bytes\n"), sizeof(config_t));
+				_n("malloc failure: could not allocate %zd byte\n",
+				   "malloc failure: could not allocate %zd bytes\n", sizeof(config_t)),
+				sizeof(config_t));
 		return NULL;
 	}
 	/* defaults which may get overridden later */