diff --git a/Lib/unittest/case.py b/Lib/unittest/case.py
index eba50839cd33ae..9ff6092ce9f13b 100644
--- a/Lib/unittest/case.py
+++ b/Lib/unittest/case.py
@@ -778,7 +778,7 @@ def _formatMessage(self, msg, standardMsg):
             # it changes the way unicode input is handled
             return '%s : %s' % (standardMsg, msg)
         except UnicodeDecodeError:
-            return  '%s : %s' % (safe_repr(standardMsg), safe_repr(msg))
+            return '%s : %s' % (safe_repr(standardMsg), safe_repr(msg))
 
     def assertRaises(self, expected_exception, *args, **kwargs):
         """Fail unless an exception of class expected_exception is raised