diff --git a/gio/gdbusmessage.c b/gio/gdbusmessage.c
index 9181029b4..cc94375e1 100644
--- a/gio/gdbusmessage.c
+++ b/gio/gdbusmessage.c
@@ -1380,8 +1380,8 @@ read_string (GMemoryBuffer          *mbuf,
                    G_IO_ERROR,
                    G_IO_ERROR_INVALID_ARGUMENT,
                    g_dngettext (GETTEXT_PACKAGE,
-                                "Wanted to read %lu bytes but only got %lu",
                                 "Wanted to read %lu byte but only got %lu",
+                                "Wanted to read %lu bytes but only got %lu",
                                 (gulong)len),
                                 (gulong)len,
                    (gulong)mbuf->valid_len - mbuf->pos);