diff --git a/Lib/socket.py b/Lib/socket.py
index 9ed2de9..bd364e7 100644
--- a/Lib/socket.py
+++ b/Lib/socket.py
@@ -548,8 +548,8 @@
     An host of '' or port 0 tells the OS to use the default.
     """
 
-    msg = "getaddrinfo returns an empty list"
     host, port = address
+    err = None
     for res in getaddrinfo(host, port, 0, SOCK_STREAM):
         af, socktype, proto, canonname, sa = res
         sock = None
@@ -562,8 +562,12 @@
             sock.connect(sa)
             return sock
 
-        except error, msg:
+        except error as _:
+            err = _
             if sock is not None:
                 sock.close()
 
-    raise error, msg
+    if err is not None:
+        raise err
+    else:
+        raise error("getaddrinfo returns an empty list")