diff --git a/builtin-show-branch.c b/builtin-show-branch.c
index 306b850c7..828e6f86d 100644
--- a/builtin-show-branch.c
+++ b/builtin-show-branch.c
@@ -365,8 +365,7 @@ static int append_ref(const char *refname, const unsigned char *sha1,
 				return 0;
 	}
 	if (MAX_REVS <= ref_name_cnt) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "warning: ignoring %s; "
-			"cannot handle more than %d refs\n",
+		warning("ignoring %s; cannot handle more than %d refs",
 			refname, MAX_REVS);
 		return 0;
 	}