diff --git a/base/precompilation.jl b/base/precompilation.jl
index bcd429a9f7a53..31c713fcd7d41 100644
--- a/base/precompilation.jl
+++ b/base/precompilation.jl
@@ -820,7 +820,7 @@ function precompilepkgs(pkgs::Vector{String}=String[];
                             close(std_pipe.in) # close pipe to end the std output monitor
                             wait(t_monitor)
                             if err isa ErrorException || (err isa ArgumentError && startswith(err.msg, "Invalid header in cache file"))
-                                failed_deps[pkg_config] = (strict || is_direct_dep) ? string(sprint(showerror, err), "\n", strip(get(std_outputs, pkg, ""))) : ""
+                                failed_deps[pkg_config] = (strict || is_direct_dep) ? string(sprint(showerror, err), "\n", strip(get(std_outputs, pkg_config, ""))) : ""
                                 delete!(std_outputs, pkg_config) # so it's not shown as warnings, given error report
                                 !fancyprint && lock(print_lock) do
                                     println(io, " "^9, color_string("  ✗ ", Base.error_color()), name)