diff --git a/src/libs/utils/commandline.cpp b/src/libs/utils/commandline.cpp
index 3ae7984275f..da44b02e089 100644
--- a/src/libs/utils/commandline.cpp
+++ b/src/libs/utils/commandline.cpp
@@ -1089,13 +1089,6 @@ bool ProcessArgs::expandMacros(QString *cmd, AbstractMacroExpander *mx, OsType o
     return true;
 }
 
-QString ProcessArgs::expandMacros(const QString &str, AbstractMacroExpander *mx, OsType osType)
-{
-    QString ret = str;
-    expandMacros(&ret, mx, osType);
-    return ret;
-}
-
 bool ProcessArgs::ArgIterator::next()
 {
     // We delay the setting of m_prev so we can still delete the last argument
diff --git a/src/libs/utils/commandline.h b/src/libs/utils/commandline.h
index 473c2677206..a2a43a82e16 100644
--- a/src/libs/utils/commandline.h
+++ b/src/libs/utils/commandline.h
@@ -81,8 +81,6 @@ public:
     //! Safely replace the expandos in a shell command
     static bool expandMacros(QString *cmd, AbstractMacroExpander *mx,
                              OsType osType = HostOsInfo::hostOs());
-    static QString expandMacros(const QString &str, AbstractMacroExpander *mx,
-                                OsType osType = HostOsInfo::hostOs());
 
     /*! Iterate over arguments from a command line.
      *  Assumes that the name of the actual command is *not* part of the line.
diff --git a/src/libs/utils/macroexpander.cpp b/src/libs/utils/macroexpander.cpp
index 5e203762132..5cf279660ed 100644
--- a/src/libs/utils/macroexpander.cpp
+++ b/src/libs/utils/macroexpander.cpp
@@ -35,11 +35,14 @@
 #include <QDebug>
 #include <QDir>
 #include <QFileInfo>
+#include <QLoggingCategory>
 #include <QMap>
 
 namespace Utils {
 namespace Internal {
 
+static Q_LOGGING_CATEGORY(expanderLog, "qtc.utils.macroexpander", QtWarningMsg)
+
 const char kFilePathPostfix[] = ":FilePath";
 const char kPathPostfix[] = ":Path";
 const char kNativeFilePathPostfix[] = ":NativeFilePath";
@@ -327,7 +330,10 @@ QVariant MacroExpander::expandVariant(const QVariant &v) const
 
 QString MacroExpander::expandProcessArgs(const QString &argsWithVariables) const
 {
-    return ProcessArgs::expandMacros(argsWithVariables, d);
+    QString result = argsWithVariables;
+    const bool ok = ProcessArgs::expandMacros(&result, d);
+    QTC_ASSERT(ok, qCDebug(expanderLog) << "Expanding failed: " << argsWithVariables);
+    return result;
 }
 
 static QByteArray fullPrefix(const QByteArray &prefix)