diff --git a/README b/README
index ca2867db..c7d95013 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ Important
     This is a beta version. The .xz file format is now stable though,
     which means that files created with the beta version will be
     uncompressible with all future XZ Utils versions too (assuming
-    that there are no catastrophical bugs).
+    that there are no catastrophic bugs).
 
     liblzma API is pretty stable now, although minor tweaks may still
     be done if really needed. The ABI is not stable yet. The major