diff --git a/collects/scribble/racket.rkt b/collects/scribble/racket.rkt
index 8029f4eb..62ef0798 100644
--- a/collects/scribble/racket.rkt
+++ b/collects/scribble/racket.rkt
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@
             (let ([l (syntax->list c)]
                   [h? highlight?])
               (unless (and l (= 2 (length l)))
-                (error "bad code:redex: ~e" (syntax->datum c)))
+                (error "bad code:redex: ~.s" (syntax->datum c)))
               (advance c init-line!)
               (set! src-col (syntax-column (cadr l)))
               (hash-set! next-col-map src-col dest-col)
diff --git a/collects/tests/scribble/reader.rkt b/collects/tests/scribble/reader.rkt
index 53ea81e3..2eefa2d5 100644
--- a/collects/tests/scribble/reader.rkt
+++ b/collects/tests/scribble/reader.rkt
@@ -871,7 +871,7 @@ END-OF-TESTS
                  [(column=)   syntax-column]
                  [(position=) syntax-position]
                  [(span=)     syntax-span]
-                 [else (error 'syntax-test "unknown test form: ~e" (car y))])
+                 [else (error 'syntax-test "unknown test form: ~.s" (car y))])
                x)
               (cadr y))
              (check-stx x (cddr y))]