diff --git a/tests/functional/common/vars-and-functions.sh b/tests/functional/common/vars-and-functions.sh
index 37c109015..4316a30d5 100644
--- a/tests/functional/common/vars-and-functions.sh
+++ b/tests/functional/common/vars-and-functions.sh
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ requireGit() {
 }
 
 fail() {
-    echo "test failed: $1" >&2
+    echo "test failed: $*" >&2
     exit 1
 }