diff --git a/Modules/socketmodule.c b/Modules/socketmodule.c
index 21fcab0538d..1874541bb1c 100644
--- a/Modules/socketmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/socketmodule.c
@@ -1690,8 +1690,10 @@ PySocketSock_new(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwds)
 	PyObject *new;
 
 	new = type->tp_alloc(type, 0);
-	if (new != NULL)
+	if (new != NULL) {
 		((PySocketSockObject *)new)->sock_fd = -1;
+		((PySocketSockObject *)new)->errorhandler = &PySocket_Err;
+	}
 	return new;
 }