diff --git a/init.lua b/init.lua
index 23449f9..de5909b 100644
--- a/init.lua
+++ b/init.lua
@@ -8,15 +8,16 @@
 -- Email: jdhao@hotmail.com
 -- Blog: https://jdhao.github.io/
 
+local api = vim.api
+local utils = require "utils"
+
 -- check if we have the latest stable version of nvim
 local expected_ver = "0.7.2"
-
-local utils = require "utils"
 local nvim_ver = utils.get_nvim_version()
 
 if nvim_ver ~= expected_ver then
   local msg = string.format("Unsupported nvim version: expect %s, but got %s instead!", expected_ver, nvim_ver)
-  vim.api.nvim_echo({ { msg, "ErrorMsg" } }, false, {})
+  api.nvim_err_writeln(msg)
   return
 end
 
diff --git a/lua/config/hlslens.lua b/lua/config/hlslens.lua
index 5b2199d..59ce9a3 100644
--- a/lua/config/hlslens.lua
+++ b/lua/config/hlslens.lua
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+local api = vim.api
 local keymap = vim.keymap
 
 require('hlslens').setup({
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ local activate_hlslens = function(direction)
   msg = msg:sub(13)
 
   if not status then
-    vim.api.nvim_echo({{msg, "ErrorMsg"}}, false, {})
+    api.nvim_err_writeln(msg)
     return
   end
   require('hlslens').start()