diff --git a/src/tools/pw-cli.c b/src/tools/pw-cli.c
index e3da0b001..4cc372b54 100644
--- a/src/tools/pw-cli.c
+++ b/src/tools/pw-cli.c
@@ -2174,7 +2174,10 @@ struct var_ctx {
 
 static int
 var_printf(struct var_ctx *v, const char *fmt, ...)
-	__attribute__((format(printf, 2, 3)));
+	 SPA_PRINTF_FUNC(2, 3);
+static int
+var_vprintf(struct var_ctx *v, const char *fmt, va_list ap)
+	 SPA_PRINTF_FUNC(2, 0);
 
 void
 var_init(struct var_ctx *v, char *buf, size_t bufsz, enum var_format fmt, unsigned int flags, int level, int ind)