diff --git a/tools/stress/src/org/apache/cassandra/stress/StressProfile.java b/tools/stress/src/org/apache/cassandra/stress/StressProfile.java
index 8485a6ca5a..2bf2b41a01 100644
--- a/tools/stress/src/org/apache/cassandra/stress/StressProfile.java
+++ b/tools/stress/src/org/apache/cassandra/stress/StressProfile.java
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ public class StressProfile implements Serializable
             }
             catch (RuntimeException e)
             {
-                throw new IllegalArgumentException("There was a problem parsing the table cql: " + e.getCause().getMessage());
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("There was a problem parsing the table cql: " + e.getMessage());
             }
         }
         else