diff --git a/salt/utils/__init__.py b/salt/utils/__init__.py
index f093ccf617..ffacad7208 100644
--- a/salt/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/salt/utils/__init__.py
@@ -793,7 +793,7 @@ def format_call(fun,
                     '{0}.{1}'.format(fun.__module__, fun.__name__)
                 )
             )
-        log.error(
+        log.critical(
             '{0}. If you were trying to pass additional data to be used '
             'in a template context, please populate \'context\' with '
             '\'key: value\' pairs.{1}'.format(