diff --git a/src/common/xmpp/transports.py b/src/common/xmpp/transports.py
index 473e9277a..d43b415dd 100644
--- a/src/common/xmpp/transports.py
+++ b/src/common/xmpp/transports.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ def temp_failure_retry(func, *args, **kwargs):
         except (os.error, IOError, select.error), ex:
             if hasattr(ex, 'errno'):
                 errnum = ex.errno
-            elif hasattr(ex, 'args') and len(ex.args) > 0:
+            elif hasattr(ex, 'args') and ex.args is not None and len(ex.args) > 0:
                 errnum = ex.args[0]
             else:
                 errnum = -1