diff --git a/libguile/eval.c b/libguile/eval.c
index 981f303d7..8217c4003 100644
--- a/libguile/eval.c
+++ b/libguile/eval.c
@@ -2702,7 +2702,7 @@ error_defined_variable (SCM symbol)
      the displayed message.
   */
   scm_error (scm_unbound_variable_key, NULL,
-	     "Undefined variable: ~S",
+	     "Variable used before given a value: ~S",
 	     scm_list_1 (symbol), SCM_BOOL_F);
 }