diff --git a/newsfragments/4809.bugfix.rst b/newsfragments/4809.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..288e3f686a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/newsfragments/4809.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Fixed crash generating error message printed when building wheels for the
+free-threaded build using the limited API. -- by :user:`ngoldbaum`
diff --git a/setuptools/command/bdist_wheel.py b/setuptools/command/bdist_wheel.py
index d9e1eb974f..bcd176f98e 100644
--- a/setuptools/command/bdist_wheel.py
+++ b/setuptools/command/bdist_wheel.py
@@ -294,7 +294,7 @@ def _validate_py_limited_api(self) -> None:
             raise ValueError(
                 f"`py_limited_api={self.py_limited_api!r}` not supported. "
                 "`Py_LIMITED_API` is currently incompatible with "
-                f"`Py_GIL_DISABLED` ({sys.abiflags=!r}). "
+                "`Py_GIL_DISABLED`."
                 "See https://github.com/python/cpython/issues/111506."
             )