diff --git a/pre_commit_hooks/check_json.py b/pre_commit_hooks/check_json.py
index f586fe9..688f719 100644
--- a/pre_commit_hooks/check_json.py
+++ b/pre_commit_hooks/check_json.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ def check_json(argv=None):
         try:
             simplejson.load(open(filename))
         except (simplejson.JSONDecodeError, UnicodeDecodeError) as exc:
-            print('{0}: Failed to json encode ({1})'.format(filename, exc))
+            print('{0}: Failed to json decode ({1})'.format(filename, exc))
             retval = 1
     return retval