diff --git a/Lib/exceptions.py b/Lib/exceptions.py
index 686ba381587..c7bbbf491ea 100644
--- a/Lib/exceptions.py
+++ b/Lib/exceptions.py
@@ -58,10 +58,12 @@ def __str__(self):
 	else:
 	    return str(self.args)
 
-class StandardError(Exception):
     def __getitem__(self, i):
 	return self.args[i]
 
+class StandardError(Exception):
+    pass
+
 class SyntaxError(StandardError):
     filename = lineno = offset = text = None
     msg = ""