diff --git a/src/ejabberd_ctl.erl b/src/ejabberd_ctl.erl
index aee1a011f..33b2fe4d0 100644
--- a/src/ejabberd_ctl.erl
+++ b/src/ejabberd_ctl.erl
@@ -201,8 +201,7 @@ process(Args) ->
     case String of
 	[] -> ok;
 	_ ->
-	    io:format(String),
-	    io:format("\n")
+	    io:format("~s~n", [String])
     end,
     Code.