diff --git a/spark/interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/spark/SparkSqlInterpreter.java b/spark/interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/spark/SparkSqlInterpreter.java
index 96250b5dec7..5b415a24f69 100644
--- a/spark/interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/spark/SparkSqlInterpreter.java
+++ b/spark/interpreter/src/main/java/org/apache/zeppelin/spark/SparkSqlInterpreter.java
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ public InterpreterResult internalInterpret(String st, InterpreterContext context
         builder.append(ExceptionUtils.getStackTrace(e));
       } else {
         logger.error("Invocation target exception", e);
-        String msg = e.getCause().getMessage()
+        String msg = e.getMessage()
                 + "\nset zeppelin.spark.sql.stacktrace = true to see full stacktrace";
         builder.append(msg);
       }