diff --git a/Lib/telnetlib.py b/Lib/telnetlib.py
index a13e85c..4964d59 100644
--- a/Lib/telnetlib.py
+++ b/Lib/telnetlib.py
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@
             try:
                 self.sock = socket.socket(af, socktype, proto)
                 self.sock.connect(sa)
-            except socket.error, msg:
+            except socket.error as msg:
                 if self.sock:
                     self.sock.close()
                 self.sock = None