diff --git a/src/events.cpp b/src/events.cpp
index 6bdb706..6a496b7 100644
--- a/src/events.cpp
+++ b/src/events.cpp
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ std::string_view decodeEventPayload(lmdb::txn &txn, Decompressor &decomp, std::s
         if (outCompressedSize) *outCompressedSize = raw.size();
         return buf;
     } else {
-        throw("Unexpected first byte in EventPayload");
+        throw herr("Unexpected first byte in EventPayload");
     }
 }