diff --git a/src/libsystemd/sd-bus/bus-error.c b/src/libsystemd/sd-bus/bus-error.c
index 53a8cf343e..8da2024a50 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd/sd-bus/bus-error.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd/sd-bus/bus-error.c
@@ -581,7 +581,7 @@ const char *bus_error_message(const sd_bus_error *e, int error) {
                         return e->message;
         }
 
-        return strerror_safe(abs(error));
+        return strerror_safe(error);
 }
 
 static bool map_ok(const sd_bus_error_map *map) {