diff --git a/src/colvar/Fake.cpp b/src/colvar/Fake.cpp
index c9ac270586c97113085f01fd834abe97f5a28afa..9c9a8c9ee281538cf05cb78d0adc52fb88421f5d 100644
--- a/src/colvar/Fake.cpp
+++ b/src/colvar/Fake.cpp
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ void ColvarFake::registerKeywords( Keywords& keys ) {
   keys.add("atoms","ATOMS","the fake atom index, a number is enough");
   keys.reserve("compulsory","PERIODIC","if the output of your function is periodic then you should specify the periodicity of the function.  If the output is not periodic you must state this using PERIODIC=NO,NO (one for the lower and the other for the upper boundary). For multicomponents then it is PERIODIC=mincomp1,maxcomp1,mincomp2,maxcomp2  etc ");
   keys.use("PERIODIC");
-  keys.add("optional","COMPONENTS","additional componnets that this variable is supposed to have. Periodicity is ruled by PERIODIC keyword ");
+  keys.add("optional","COMPONENTS","additional components that this variable is supposed to have. Periodicity is ruled by PERIODIC keyword ");
 }
 
 ColvarFake::ColvarFake(const ActionOptions&ao):