diff --git a/maven-artifact-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/repository/metadata/DefaultRepositoryMetadataManager.java b/maven-artifact-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/repository/metadata/DefaultRepositoryMetadataManager.java
index 2caacc41aa..4074d1b99a 100644
--- a/maven-artifact-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/repository/metadata/DefaultRepositoryMetadataManager.java
+++ b/maven-artifact-manager/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/artifact/repository/metadata/DefaultRepositoryMetadataManager.java
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ public class DefaultRepositoryMetadataManager
         catch ( TransferFailedException e )
         {
             getLogger().warn( metadata + " could not be found on repository: " + repository.getId() +
-                " due to an error: " + e.getCause().getMessage() );
+                " due to an error: " + e.getMessage() );
             getLogger().info( "Repository '" + repository.getId() + "' will be blacklisted" );
             getLogger().debug( "Exception", e );
             repository.setBlacklisted( allowBlacklisting );