diff --git a/mypy/checkstrformat.py b/mypy/checkstrformat.py
index 0ff81fb1ea58..0ddcd9d2d194 100644
--- a/mypy/checkstrformat.py
+++ b/mypy/checkstrformat.py
@@ -81,7 +81,9 @@ def parse_conversion_specifiers(self, format: str) -> List[ConversionSpecifier]:
         for parens_key, key, flags, width, precision, type in re.findall(regex, format):
             if parens_key == '':
                 key = None
-            specifiers.append(ConversionSpecifier(key, flags, width, precision, type))
+            specifier = ConversionSpecifier(key, flags, width, precision, type)
+            if specifier.type != '%' or specifier.has_star():
+                specifiers.append(specifier)
         return specifiers
 
     def analyze_conversion_specifiers(self, specifiers: List[ConversionSpecifier],
diff --git a/test-data/unit/check-expressions.test b/test-data/unit/check-expressions.test
index e80de39763d6..8fbcaefd4ba9 100644
--- a/test-data/unit/check-expressions.test
+++ b/test-data/unit/check-expressions.test
@@ -989,6 +989,8 @@ a = None # type: Any
 '%()d' % {'': 2}
 '%(a)d' % {'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 3}
 '%(q)d' % {'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 3}  # E: Key 'q' not found in mapping
+'%(a)d %%' % {'a': 1}
+
 [builtins fixtures/dict.py]
 
 [case testStringInterpolationMappingDictTypes]