diff --git a/Lib/distutils/core.py b/Lib/distutils/core.py
index 3df54a5e831..9a801063c7f 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/core.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/core.py
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ def setup (**attrs):
                       "error: %s: %s" % (exc.filename, exc.strerror)
             else:
                 raise SystemExit, str (exc)
-        except DistutilsExecError, msg:
+        except (DistutilsExecError, DistutilsFileError), msg:
             raise SystemExit, "error: " + str (msg)
 
 # setup ()