diff --git a/Lib/distutils/file_util.py b/Lib/distutils/file_util.py
index e29e90e..6919060 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/file_util.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/file_util.py
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@
             macostools.copy(src, dst, 0, preserve_times)
         except os.error as exc:
             raise DistutilsFileError(
-                  "could not copy '%s' to '%s': %s" % (src, dst, exc[-1]))
+                  "could not copy '%s' to '%s': %s" % (src, dst, exc.args[-1]))
 
     # If linking (hard or symbolic), use the appropriate system call
     # (Unix only, of course, but that's the caller's responsibility)
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/spawn.py b/Lib/distutils/spawn.py
index 0aee2bc..4c536d2 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/spawn.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/spawn.py
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@
         except OSError as exc:
             # this seems to happen when the command isn't found
             raise DistutilsExecError(
-                  "command '%s' failed: %s" % (cmd[0], exc[-1]))
+                  "command '%s' failed: %s" % (cmd[0], exc.args[-1]))
         if rc != 0:
             # and this reflects the command running but failing
             raise DistutilsExecError(
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@
         except OSError as exc:
             # this seems to happen when the command isn't found
             raise DistutilsExecError(
-                  "command '%s' failed: %s" % (cmd[0], exc[-1]))
+                  "command '%s' failed: %s" % (cmd[0], exc.args[-1]))
         if rc != 0:
             # and this reflects the command running but failing
             print("command '%s' failed with exit status %d" % (cmd[0], rc))
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@
                 if exc.errno == errno.EINTR:
                     continue
                 raise DistutilsExecError(
-                      "command '%s' failed: %s" % (cmd[0], exc[-1]))
+                      "command '%s' failed: %s" % (cmd[0], exc.args[-1]))
             if os.WIFSIGNALED(status):
                 raise DistutilsExecError(
                       "command '%s' terminated by signal %d"