diff --git a/dbt/node_runners.py b/dbt/node_runners.py
index 90a4f3c00b5..1d487a1d0cf 100644
--- a/dbt/node_runners.py
+++ b/dbt/node_runners.py
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ def after_hooks(cls, project, adapter, results, flat_graph, elapsed):
     def describe_node(self):
         materialization = dbt.utils.get_materialization(self.node)
         schema_name = self.node.get('schema')
-        node_name = self.node.get('alias')
+        node_name = dbt.utils.get_alias(self.node)
         return "{} model {}.{}".format(materialization, schema_name, node_name)
 
     def print_start_line(self):