The news story ‘Larsen C’s big divide’ (Nature 542, 402; 2017) erroneously stated that two glaciers flowing into the Larsen C ice shelf have begun to accelerate. Actually, it was glaciers flowing into Larsen B that began to accelerate before the shelf’s collapse. Also, the first reference should have been to E. Rignot et al. Geophys. Res. Lett. 31, L18401 (2004).