diff --git a/gslib/gcs_json_media.py b/gslib/gcs_json_media.py
index 6746789285..1ed7fb2da3 100644
--- a/gslib/gcs_json_media.py
+++ b/gslib/gcs_json_media.py
@@ -583,7 +583,7 @@ def _conn_request(self, conn, request_uri, method, body, headers):  # pylint: di
       raise
     except socket.error as e:
       err = 0
-      if hasattr(e, 'args'):
+      if hasattr(e, 'args') and getattr(e, 'args'):
         err = getattr(e, 'args')[0]
       else:
         err = e.errno