diff --git a/docs/devel/tracing.txt b/docs/devel/tracing.txt
index 76e492a489..8231bbf5d1 100644
--- a/docs/devel/tracing.txt
+++ b/docs/devel/tracing.txt
@@ -112,6 +112,8 @@ Trace events should use types as follows:
 Format strings should reflect the types defined in the trace event.  Take
 special care to use PRId64 and PRIu64 for int64_t and uint64_t types,
 respectively.  This ensures portability between 32- and 64-bit platforms.
+Format strings must not end with a newline character.  It is the responsibility
+of backends to adapt line ending for proper logging.
 
 Each event declaration will start with the event name, then its arguments,
 finally a format string for pretty-printing. For example:
diff --git a/scripts/tracetool/__init__.py b/scripts/tracetool/__init__.py
index 6fca674936..04279fa62e 100644
--- a/scripts/tracetool/__init__.py
+++ b/scripts/tracetool/__init__.py
@@ -277,6 +277,9 @@ class Event(object):
         if fmt.find("%m") != -1 or fmt_trans.find("%m") != -1:
             raise ValueError("Event format '%m' is forbidden, pass the error "
                              "as an explicit trace argument")
+        if fmt.endswith(r'\n"'):
+            raise ValueError("Event format must not end with a newline "
+                             "character")
 
         if len(fmt_trans) > 0:
             fmt = [fmt_trans, fmt]