diff --git a/Lib/compiler/future.py b/Lib/compiler/future.py
index 868b7cb..414e64e 100644
--- a/Lib/compiler/future.py
+++ b/Lib/compiler/future.py
@@ -22,7 +22,14 @@
 
     def visitModule(self, node):
         stmt = node.node
+        found_docstring = False
         for s in stmt.nodes:
+            # Skip over docstrings
+            if not found_docstring and isinstance(s, ast.Discard) \
+               and isinstance(s.expr, ast.Const) \
+               and isinstance(s.expr.value, str):
+                found_docstring = True
+                continue
             if not self.check_stmt(s):
                 break
 
@@ -50,7 +57,7 @@
             return
         if node.modname != "__future__":
             return
-        raise SyntaxError, "invalid future statement"
+        raise SyntaxError, "invalid future statement " + repr(node)
 
 def find_futures(node):
     p1 = FutureParser()