diff --git a/src/printf.cpp b/src/printf.cpp
index eaa498c0..02eb6c01 100644
--- a/src/printf.cpp
+++ b/src/printf.cpp
@@ -187,16 +187,14 @@ void process_printf(char*& data, const printf_descriptor_map_t& descs,
         // Handle special cases
         if (part_end == part_start + 1) {
             printf_out << "%";
-            size_t next_format = format_string.find_first_of('%', part_end + 1);
-            // Check if there is anything to print between two %
-            if (next_format != std::string::npos &&
-                next_format - part_end > 1) {
-                // Print everything in between the two %
-                printf_out << format_string.substr(
-                    part_end + 1, next_format - (part_end + 1));
-                next_part = next_format;
-            } else {
-                next_part = part_end + 1;
+            // We also need to print the literals between '%%' and the next '%'
+            next_part = part_start = part_end + 1;
+            part_end = format_string.find_first_of('%', part_start);
+            if (part_end != std::string::npos && part_end > part_start) {
+                part_fmt =
+                    format_string.substr(part_start, part_end - part_start);
+                printf_out << part_fmt;
+                next_part = part_end;
             }
             continue;
         } else if (part_end == std::string::npos &&