diff --git a/lib/ansible/modules/extras/monitoring/sensu_check.py b/lib/ansible/modules/extras/monitoring/sensu_check.py
index eb9d0b7bf04..5c932a1d303 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/modules/extras/monitoring/sensu_check.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/modules/extras/monitoring/sensu_check.py
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ def sensu_check(module, path, name, state='present', backup=False):
     try:
         stream = open(path, 'r')
         config = json.load(stream.read())
-    except IOError as e:
+    except IOError, e:
         if e.errno is 2:  # File not found, non-fatal
             if state == 'absent':
                 reasons.append('file did not exist and state is `absent\'')
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ def sensu_check(module, path, name, state='present', backup=False):
         try:
             stream = open(path, 'w')
             stream.write(json.dumps(config, indent=2) + '\n')
-        except IOError as e:
+        except IOError, e:
             module.fail_json(msg=str(e))
         finally:
             if stream: