diff --git a/lib/damask/util.py b/lib/damask/util.py
index a6bbdf932..5f30d3758 100644
--- a/lib/damask/util.py
+++ b/lib/damask/util.py
@@ -6,8 +6,7 @@ import numpy as np
 from optparse import OptionParser, Option
 
 # -----------------------------
-def croak(self,
-          what,
+def croak(what,
           newline = True):
 # -----------------------------
   sys.stderr.write(('\n'.join(map(str,what)) if not hasattr(what, "strip")
@@ -397,4 +396,4 @@ def curve_fit_bound(f, xdata, ydata, p0=None, sigma=None, bounds=None, **kw):
     if return_full:
         return popt, pcov, infodict, errmsg, ier
     else:
-        return popt, pcov
\ No newline at end of file
+        return popt, pcov