diff --git a/src/tools/qstring.cpp b/src/tools/qstring.cpp
index 26e9b61c..28b9c520 100644
--- a/src/tools/qstring.cpp
+++ b/src/tools/qstring.cpp
@@ -2619,13 +2619,12 @@ TQString &TQString::sprintf(const char *cformat, ...)
     if ( !cformat || !*cformat ) {
 	// TQt 1.x compat
 	*this = fromLatin1( "" );
-	return *this;
+    } else {
+	vsprintf(cformat, ap);
     }
 
-    TQString &s = vsprintf(cformat, ap);
-
     va_end(ap);
-    return s;
+    return *this;
 }
 
 TQString &TQString::vsprintf( const char* cformat, va_list ap )