--- a/sc.h
+++ b/sc.h
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
 #ifdef PSC
 # define error(msg)	fprintf(stderr, msg);
 #else
-# define error if (isatty(fileno(stdout)) && !move(1,0) && !clrtoeol()) printw
+# define error(format, msg...) (void)(isatty(fileno(stdout)) && !move(1,0) && !clrtoeol() && printw(format, ## msg))
 #endif
 #define	FBUFLEN	1024	/* buffer size for a single field */
 #define PATHLEN (PATH_MAX < 8192 ? 8192 : PATH_MAX) /* maximum path length */
