diff --git a/runtime/lua/man.lua b/runtime/lua/man.lua
index 348e502f34..b9213c8259 100644
--- a/runtime/lua/man.lua
+++ b/runtime/lua/man.lua
@@ -479,7 +479,13 @@ local function put_page(page)
   -- XXX: nroff justifies text by filling it with whitespace.  That interacts
   -- badly with our use of $MANWIDTH=999.  Hack around this by using a fixed
   -- size for those whitespace regions.
-  vim.cmd([[silent! keeppatterns keepjumps %s/\s\{199,}/\=repeat(' ', 10)/g]])
+  -- Use try/catch to avoid setting v:errmsg.
+  vim.cmd([[
+    try
+      keeppatterns keepjumps %s/\s\{199,}/\=repeat(' ', 10)/g
+    catch
+    endtry
+  ]])
   vim.cmd('1') -- Move cursor to first line
   highlight_man_page()
   set_options()
diff --git a/test/functional/plugin/man_spec.lua b/test/functional/plugin/man_spec.lua
index 5e4ec53f8d..c0256d1c63 100644
--- a/test/functional/plugin/man_spec.lua
+++ b/test/functional/plugin/man_spec.lua
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ local function get_search_history(name)
   local args = vim.split(name, ' ')
   local code = [[
     local args = ...
-    local man = require('runtime.lua.man')
+    local man = require('man')
     local res = {}
     man.find_path = function(sect, name)
       table.insert(res, {sect, name})