diff --git a/validate/gst/validate/gst-validate-pad-monitor.c b/validate/gst/validate/gst-validate-pad-monitor.c
index 85ba3b0ef8..2df9845e40 100644
--- a/validate/gst/validate/gst-validate-pad-monitor.c
+++ b/validate/gst/validate/gst-validate-pad-monitor.c
@@ -1721,7 +1721,7 @@ gst_validate_pad_monitor_downstream_event_check (GstValidatePadMonitor *
               if ((exp_segment->rate * exp_segment->applied_rate !=
                       segment->rate * segment->applied_rate))
                 GST_VALIDATE_REPORT (pad_monitor, EVENT_NEW_SEGMENT_MISMATCH,
-                    "Rate * applied_rate %d != expected %d",
+                    "Rate * applied_rate %f != expected %f",
                     segment->rate * segment->applied_rate,
                     exp_segment->rate * exp_segment->applied_rate);
               if (exp_segment->start != segment->start)
@@ -1928,9 +1928,10 @@ gst_validate_pad_monitor_check_right_buffer (GstValidatePadMonitor *
       GST_BUFFER_PTS (wanted_buf) != GST_BUFFER_PTS (buffer)) {
 
     GST_VALIDATE_REPORT (pad_monitor, WRONG_BUFFER,
-        "buffer %" GST_PTR_FORMAT " PTS %ld"
-        " different than expected: %ld", buffer,
-        GST_BUFFER_PTS (buffer), GST_BUFFER_PTS (wanted_buf));
+        "buffer %" GST_PTR_FORMAT " PTS %" GST_TIME_FORMAT
+        " different than expected: %" GST_TIME_FORMAT, buffer,
+        GST_TIME_ARGS (GST_BUFFER_PTS (buffer)),
+        GST_TIME_ARGS (GST_BUFFER_PTS (wanted_buf)));
 
     ret = FALSE;
   }
diff --git a/validate/gst/validate/gst-validate-reporter.c b/validate/gst/validate/gst-validate-reporter.c
index 4936aea19c..a34476d702 100644
--- a/validate/gst/validate/gst-validate-reporter.c
+++ b/validate/gst/validate/gst-validate-reporter.c
@@ -239,11 +239,11 @@ gst_validate_reporter_g_log_func (const gchar * log_domain,
     GstValidateReporter * reporter)
 {
   if (log_level & G_LOG_LEVEL_CRITICAL)
-    GST_VALIDATE_REPORT (reporter, G_LOG_CRITICAL, message);
+    GST_VALIDATE_REPORT (reporter, G_LOG_CRITICAL, "%s", message);
   else if (log_level & G_LOG_LEVEL_WARNING)
-    GST_VALIDATE_REPORT (reporter, G_LOG_WARNING, message);
+    GST_VALIDATE_REPORT (reporter, G_LOG_WARNING, "%s", message);
   else
-    GST_VALIDATE_REPORT (reporter, G_LOG_ISSUE, message);
+    GST_VALIDATE_REPORT (reporter, G_LOG_ISSUE, "%s", message);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ void
 gst_validate_reporter_report_simple (GstValidateReporter * reporter,
     GstValidateIssueId issue_id, const gchar * message)
 {
-  gst_validate_report (reporter, issue_id, message);
+  gst_validate_report (reporter, issue_id, "%s", message);
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/validate/gst/validate/gst-validate-reporter.h b/validate/gst/validate/gst-validate-reporter.h
index 79875706c8..108a273a5f 100644
--- a/validate/gst/validate/gst-validate-reporter.h
+++ b/validate/gst/validate/gst-validate-reporter.h
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ const gchar * gst_validate_reporter_get_name            (GstValidateReporter * r
 GstValidateRunner * gst_validate_reporter_get_runner (GstValidateReporter *reporter);
 void gst_validate_reporter_init                (GstValidateReporter * reporter, const gchar *name);
 void gst_validate_report                       (GstValidateReporter * reporter, GstValidateIssueId issue_id,
-                                          const gchar * format, ...);
+                                          const gchar * format, ...) G_GNUC_PRINTF (3, 4) G_GNUC_NO_INSTRUMENT;
 void gst_validate_report_valist                (GstValidateReporter * reporter, GstValidateIssueId issue_id,
                                           const gchar * format, va_list var_args);
 void
diff --git a/validate/gst/validate/media-descriptor.c b/validate/gst/validate/media-descriptor.c
index 5f22b0288c..93f4bc295c 100644
--- a/validate/gst/validate/media-descriptor.c
+++ b/validate/gst/validate/media-descriptor.c
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ compare_tags (GstMediaDescriptor * ref, StreamNode * rstream,
 
     GST_VALIDATE_REPORT (ref, FILE_TAG_DETECTION_INCORRECT,
         "Reference descriptor for stream %s has NO tags"
-        " but tags found: %s", all_tags->str);
+        " but tags found: %s", rstream->id, all_tags->str);
 
     g_string_free (all_tags, TRUE);
 
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ compare_tags (GstMediaDescriptor * ref, StreamNode * rstream,
 
     GST_VALIDATE_REPORT (ref, FILE_TAG_DETECTION_INCORRECT,
         "Reference descriptor for stream %s has tags:\n %s\n"
-        " but NO tags found on the stream");
+        " but NO tags found on the stream", rstream->id, all_tags->str);
 
     g_string_free (all_tags, TRUE);
     return 0;