diff --git a/src/rekor/apis/mod.rs b/src/rekor/apis/mod.rs
index a32d86e437..fb1bcb32ba 100644
--- a/src/rekor/apis/mod.rs
+++ b/src/rekor/apis/mod.rs
@@ -27,10 +27,15 @@ pub enum Error<T> {
         source: std::io::Error,
     },
 
-    #[error("error in response: status code {{error.status:?}}")]
+    #[error("error in response: status code {:?}", error_status(.0))]
     ResponseError(ResponseContent<T>),
 }
 
+#[inline]
+fn error_status<T>(response: &ResponseContent<T>) -> reqwest::StatusCode {
+    response.status
+}
+
 pub fn urlencode<T: AsRef<str>>(s: T) -> String {
     ::url::form_urlencoded::byte_serialize(s.as_ref().as_bytes()).collect()
 }