diff --git a/lisp/gnus/gnus-sum.el b/lisp/gnus/gnus-sum.el
index 3dbcc21e65c..5972f29dd88 100644
--- a/lisp/gnus/gnus-sum.el
+++ b/lisp/gnus/gnus-sum.el
@@ -4004,7 +4004,8 @@ If SELECT-ARTICLES, only select those articles from GROUP."
 	      (gnus-group-next-unread-group 1))
 	  (gnus-handle-ephemeral-exit quit-config)))
       (if (null (gnus-list-of-unread-articles group))
-	  (gnus-message 3 "Group %s contains no messages" group)
+	  (gnus-message 3 "Group %s contains no messages"
+			(gnus-group-decoded-name group))
 	(gnus-message 3 "Can't select group"))
       nil)
      ;; The user did a `C-g' while prompting for number of articles,