diff --git a/bin/dune-ctest b/bin/dune-ctest
index c4764ded81f9b1cb1f26fba39851c751b6398152..3f9dfdbe863313f69f2ee7b11d93bd1992f4cdd7 100755
--- a/bin/dune-ctest
+++ b/bin/dune-ctest
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ class CTestParser:
                         self.printTest(test,output="Compilation error")
                     else:
                         error = et.SubElement(testcase,"error")
-                        error.set("message"."unknown error during test execution")
+                        error.set("message","unknown error during test execution")
                         error.set("type","unknown")
                         error.text = msg
                         self.errors += 1