diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/bug-fixes/2609--fix-cannot-connect-msg.md b/changelog/unreleased/bug-fixes/2609--fix-cannot-connect-msg.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..7c0ec27ac96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/bug-fixes/2609--fix-cannot-connect-msg.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+The error message on connection failure now contains a correctly formatted
+target endpoint.
diff --git a/libvast/src/system/connect_to_node.cpp b/libvast/src/system/connect_to_node.cpp
index 286175d0e53..76ed3552d0e 100644
--- a/libvast/src/system/connect_to_node.cpp
+++ b/libvast/src/system/connect_to_node.cpp
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ connect_to_node(scoped_actor& self, const caf::settings& opts) {
     return caf::make_error(
       ec::system_error,
       fmt::format("failed to connect to VAST node at {}:{}: {}",
-                  node_endpoint.host, to_string(node_endpoint.host),
+                  node_endpoint.host, node_endpoint.port->number(),
                   std::move(result.error())));
   VAST_DEBUG("client connected to VAST node at {}:{}", node_endpoint.host,
              to_string(*node_endpoint.port));