diff --git a/require-ess/src/require.c b/require-ess/src/require.c
index 765138eadc90f4d0623f7483d7e8168cb0471bee..29460244ec11017d9d3d76f8ecb7e3ccb1c8a6b2 100644
--- a/require-ess/src/require.c
+++ b/require-ess/src/require.c
@@ -919,7 +919,7 @@ int require(const char *module, const char *version, const char *args) {
   }
 
   if (interruptAccept) {
-    printf("Stopping module loading... Module %s is not loaded!\n", module);
+    fprintf(stderr, "Error! Modules can only be loaded before iocIint has been invoked!\n");
     return -1;
   }