diff --git a/src/calibre/devices/idevice/libimobiledevice.py b/src/calibre/devices/idevice/libimobiledevice.py
index 9c76edcdf1..5de81b4d9b 100644
--- a/src/calibre/devices/idevice/libimobiledevice.py
+++ b/src/calibre/devices/idevice/libimobiledevice.py
@@ -531,7 +531,7 @@ class libiMobileDevice():
         else:
             if self.verbose:
                 self.log(" could not open file")
-            raise libiMobileDeviceIOException("could not open file '%s' for reading" % path)
+            raise libiMobileDeviceIOException("could not open file %s for reading" % repr(path))
 
         return data