diff --git a/guix/profiles.scm b/guix/profiles.scm
index fd2afc05a3ff9be70caf9b992d4d4121b95f0a89..8445e0076146ee552f4a932fd84fddc256e6cbfe 100644
--- a/guix/profiles.scm
+++ b/guix/profiles.scm
@@ -278,7 +278,8 @@ (define (infer-search-paths name version)
                                   search-paths))))
            name version output path deps search-paths)))
     (_
-     (error "unsupported manifest format" sexp))))
+     (raise (condition
+             (&message (message "unsupported manifest format")))))))
 
 (define (read-manifest port)
   "Return the packages listed in MANIFEST."