diff --git a/src/libutil/fmt.hh b/src/libutil/fmt.hh
index dc7fe8056..a39de041f 100644
--- a/src/libutil/fmt.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/fmt.hh
@@ -120,6 +120,13 @@ public:
         return *this;
     }
 
+    template<class T>
+    hintformat& operator%(const normaltxt<T> &value)
+    {
+        fmt % value.value;
+        return *this;
+    }
+
     std::string str() const
     {
         return fmt.str();
@@ -142,6 +149,6 @@ inline hintformat hintfmt(const std::string & fs, const Args & ... args)
 inline hintformat hintfmt(std::string plain_string)
 {
     // we won't be receiving any args in this case, so just print the original string
-    return hintfmt("%s", plain_string);
+    return hintfmt("%s", normaltxt(plain_string));
 }
 }
diff --git a/src/libutil/tests/logging.cc b/src/libutil/tests/logging.cc
index 31e3de697..6a6fb4ac3 100644
--- a/src/libutil/tests/logging.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/tests/logging.cc
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ namespace nix {
             logger->logEI(ei);
             auto str = testing::internal::GetCapturedStderr();
 
-            ASSERT_STREQ(str.c_str(), "\x1B[31;1merror:\x1B[0m\x1B[34;1m --- TestError --- error-unit-test\x1B[0m\n\x1B[33;1m\x1B[0minitial error\x1B[0m; subsequent error message.\n");
+            ASSERT_STREQ(str.c_str(), "\x1B[31;1merror:\x1B[0m\x1B[34;1m --- TestError --- error-unit-test\x1B[0m\ninitial error; subsequent error message.\n");
         }
 
     }
@@ -61,8 +61,7 @@ namespace nix {
             logError(e.info());
             auto str = testing::internal::GetCapturedStderr();
 
-            ASSERT_STREQ(str.c_str(), "\x1B[31;1merror:\x1B[0m\x1B[34;1m --- SysError --- error-unit-test\x1B[0m\n\x1B[33;1m\x1B[0mstatting file\x1B[0m: \x1B[33;1mBad file descriptor\x1B[0m\n");
-
+            ASSERT_STREQ(str.c_str(), "\x1B[31;1merror:\x1B[0m\x1B[34;1m --- SysError --- error-unit-test\x1B[0m\nstatting file: \x1B[33;1mBad file descriptor\x1B[0m\n");
         }
     }