diff --git a/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/TopicCommand.java b/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/TopicCommand.java
index 93b19adcf3c..464a8fcf00f 100644
--- a/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/TopicCommand.java
+++ b/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/TopicCommand.java
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ public abstract class TopicCommand {
             .forEach(pair -> props.setProperty(pair.get(0).trim(), pair.get(1).trim()));
         LogConfig.validate(props);
         if (props.containsKey(TopicConfig.MESSAGE_FORMAT_VERSION_CONFIG)) {
-            System.out.println("WARNING: The configuration ${TopicConfig.MESSAGE_FORMAT_VERSION_CONFIG}=${props.getProperty(TopicConfig.MESSAGE_FORMAT_VERSION_CONFIG)} is specified. " +
+            System.out.println("WARNING: The configuration " + TopicConfig.MESSAGE_FORMAT_VERSION_CONFIG + "=" + props.getProperty(TopicConfig.MESSAGE_FORMAT_VERSION_CONFIG) + " is specified. " +
                 "This configuration will be ignored if the version is newer than the inter.broker.protocol.version specified in the broker or " +
                 "if the inter.broker.protocol.version is 3.0 or newer. This configuration is deprecated and it will be removed in Apache Kafka 4.0.");
         }