diff --git a/book/creating_errors.md b/book/creating_errors.md
index 34b1fa16483..b3f1d8b296f 100644
--- a/book/creating_errors.md
+++ b/book/creating_errors.md
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ def my-command [x] {
         msg: "this is fishy",
         label: {
             text: "fish right here",
-            span: (metadata $x).span
+            span: $span
         }
     }
 }