diff --git a/racket/collects/racket/contract/private/misc.rkt b/racket/collects/racket/contract/private/misc.rkt
index 7477a0e1aa..a702633c58 100644
--- a/racket/collects/racket/contract/private/misc.rkt
+++ b/racket/collects/racket/contract/private/misc.rkt
@@ -630,7 +630,7 @@
   (raise-blame-error blame #:missing-party neg-party val
                      '(expected: "~s" given: "~e")
                      (if empty-ok?
-                         "list?"
+                         'list?
                          (format "~s" `(and/c list? pair?)))
                      val))