diff --git a/Lib/filecmp.py b/Lib/filecmp.py
index ac01613..1f599ce 100644
--- a/Lib/filecmp.py
+++ b/Lib/filecmp.py
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@
 
     def __getattr__(self, attr):
         if attr not in self.methodmap:
-            raise AttributeError, attr
+            raise AttributeError(attr)
         self.methodmap[attr](self)
         return getattr(self, attr)