diff --git a/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-policies/src/main/java/org/apache/archiva/policies/ProxyDownloadException.java b/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-policies/src/main/java/org/apache/archiva/policies/ProxyDownloadException.java
index 96efd6f38..94f64dfd6 100644
--- a/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-policies/src/main/java/org/apache/archiva/policies/ProxyDownloadException.java
+++ b/archiva-modules/archiva-base/archiva-policies/src/main/java/org/apache/archiva/policies/ProxyDownloadException.java
@@ -51,7 +51,8 @@ public class ProxyDownloadException
 
     private static String constructMessage( String message, Map<String, Exception> failures )
     {
-        StringBuilder msg = new StringBuilder( message + ":" );
+        StringBuilder msg = new StringBuilder( message );
+        msg.append( ":" );
         for ( Map.Entry<String, Exception> entry : failures.entrySet() )
         {
             msg.append( "\n\t" ).append( entry.getKey() ).append( ": " ).append( entry.getValue().getMessage() );