diff --git a/pkgs/racket-pkgs/racket-index/setup/scribble.rkt b/pkgs/racket-pkgs/racket-index/setup/scribble.rkt
index 8ff32d1194..462208be98 100644
--- a/pkgs/racket-pkgs/racket-index/setup/scribble.rkt
+++ b/pkgs/racket-pkgs/racket-index/setup/scribble.rkt
@@ -1254,7 +1254,8 @@
                                ;; Maybe further actions are appropriate, but
                                ;; overall clean-up and repair is intended to be
                                ;; the job of the regular documentation builder.
-                               (log-error (exn-message exn)))])
+                               (log-error (format "error moving documentation: ~a"
+                                                  (exn-message exn))))])
     (define dest-dir (doc-dest-dir doc))
     (define move? (and src-dir
                        (not (equal? (file-or-directory-identity src-dir)