diff --git a/qmake/library/qmakebuiltins.cpp b/qmake/library/qmakebuiltins.cpp
index 9efcd7eec31..cf4149f3399 100644
--- a/qmake/library/qmakebuiltins.cpp
+++ b/qmake/library/qmakebuiltins.cpp
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ static QString windowsErrorCode()
                   NULL);
     QString ret = QString::fromWCharArray(string);
     LocalFree((HLOCAL)string);
-    return ret;
+    return ret.trimmed();
 }
 #endif