diff --git a/src/slurmd/slurmd.c b/src/slurmd/slurmd.c
index 643afa1a107420ea874f828664720017cbe6a146..e49017028f43377c704b96b7eef33f8af1231224 100644
--- a/src/slurmd/slurmd.c
+++ b/src/slurmd/slurmd.c
@@ -742,7 +742,7 @@ _set_slurmd_spooldir(void)
 	 * running as a daemon
 	 */
 	if (conf->daemonize && chdir(conf->spooldir) < 0) {
-		fatal("chdir(%s): %m", conf->spooldir);
+		error("chdir(%s): %m", conf->spooldir);
 		return SLURM_ERROR;
 	}