diff --git a/src/lxc/lxc_execute.c b/src/lxc/lxc_execute.c
index fea4974c7..bbe7d1a3f 100644
--- a/src/lxc/lxc_execute.c
+++ b/src/lxc/lxc_execute.c
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	argc -= nbargs;
 
 	if (lxc_execute(name, argc, args, NULL, NULL)) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "failed to start %s\n", name);
+		fprintf(stderr, "failed to start '%s'\n", name);
 		return 1;
 	}