diff --git a/IPython/core/iplib.py b/IPython/core/iplib.py
index ef147fc..a89d6b4 100644
--- a/IPython/core/iplib.py
+++ b/IPython/core/iplib.py
@@ -1920,7 +1920,7 @@ class InteractiveShell(Component, Magic):
                 # SystemExit exception changed between Python 2.4 and 2.5, so
                 # the checks must be done in a version-dependent way.
                 show = False
-                if status.message!=0 and not kw['exit_ignore']:
+                if status.args[0]==0 and not kw['exit_ignore']:
                     show = True
                 if show:
                     self.showtraceback()
diff --git a/IPython/frontend/wx/ipythonx.py b/IPython/frontend/wx/ipythonx.py
index af7d322..d95d709 100644
--- a/IPython/frontend/wx/ipythonx.py
+++ b/IPython/frontend/wx/ipythonx.py
@@ -6,11 +6,10 @@ ipython.
 try:
     import wx
 except ImportError, e:
-    e.message = """%s
+    e.args[0] = """%s
 ________________________________________________________________________________
 You need wxPython to run this application.
-""" % e.message
-    e.args = (e.message, ) + e.args[1:]
+""" % e.args[0]
     raise e
 
 from wx_frontend import WxController
diff --git a/IPython/kernel/error.py b/IPython/kernel/error.py
index 77db614..23f7cd8 100644
--- a/IPython/kernel/error.py
+++ b/IPython/kernel/error.py
@@ -127,9 +127,11 @@ class TaskRejectError(KernelError):
 class CompositeError(KernelError):
     def __init__(self, message, elist):
         Exception.__init__(self, *(message, elist))
-        self.message = message
+        # Don't use pack_exception because it will conflict with the .message
+        # attribute that is being deprecated in 2.6 and beyond.
+        self.msg = message
         self.elist = elist
-  
+
     def _get_engine_str(self, ev):
         try:
             ei = ev._ipython_engine_info
@@ -137,7 +139,7 @@ class CompositeError(KernelError):
             return '[Engine Exception]'
         else:
             return '[%i:%s]: ' % (ei['engineid'], ei['method'])
-    
+
     def _get_traceback(self, ev):
         try:
             tb = ev._ipython_traceback_text
@@ -145,14 +147,14 @@ class CompositeError(KernelError):
             return 'No traceback available'
         else:
             return tb
-  
+
     def __str__(self):
-        s = str(self.message)
+        s = str(self.msg)
         for et, ev, etb in self.elist:
             engine_str = self._get_engine_str(ev)
             s = s + '\n' + engine_str + str(et.__name__) + ': ' + str(ev)
         return s
-    
+
     def print_tracebacks(self, excid=None):
         if excid is None:
             for (et,ev,etb) in self.elist: