diff --git a/Generals/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameClient/GameText.cpp b/Generals/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameClient/GameText.cpp
index 5b617b793cc..3c3425c277d 100644
--- a/Generals/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameClient/GameText.cpp
+++ b/Generals/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameClient/GameText.cpp
@@ -1374,7 +1374,7 @@ UnicodeString GameTextManager::fetchOrSubstituteFormatVA( const Char *label, con
 	if (exists)
 	{
 		UnicodeString strFormat;
-		strFormat.format_va(strFormat.str(), args);
+		strFormat.format_va(str.str(), args);
 		str = strFormat;
 	}
 	else
diff --git a/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameClient/GameText.cpp b/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameClient/GameText.cpp
index 012f01250e8..d0335fe2f2b 100644
--- a/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameClient/GameText.cpp
+++ b/GeneralsMD/Code/GameEngine/Source/GameClient/GameText.cpp
@@ -1374,7 +1374,7 @@ UnicodeString GameTextManager::fetchOrSubstituteFormatVA( const Char *label, con
 	if (exists)
 	{
 		UnicodeString strFormat;
-		strFormat.format_va(strFormat.str(), args);
+		strFormat.format_va(str.str(), args);
 		str = strFormat;
 	}
 	else