diff --git a/mercurial/dispatch.py b/mercurial/dispatch.py
--- a/mercurial/dispatch.py
+++ b/mercurial/dispatch.py
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ def _runcatch(ui, args):
             else:
                 raise
     except socket.error, inst:
-        ui.warn(_("abort: %s\n") % inst[-1])
+        ui.warn(_("abort: %s\n") % inst.args[-1])
     except IOError, inst:
         if hasattr(inst, "code"):
             ui.warn(_("abort: %s\n") % inst)
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ def _runcatch(ui, args):
             except: # it might be anything, for example a string
                 reason = inst.reason
             ui.warn(_("abort: error: %s\n") % reason)
-        elif hasattr(inst, "args") and inst[0] == errno.EPIPE:
+        elif hasattr(inst, "args") and inst.args[0] == errno.EPIPE:
             if ui.debugflag:
                 ui.warn(_("broken pipe\n"))
         elif getattr(inst, "strerror", None):
@@ -116,13 +116,13 @@ def _runcatch(ui, args):
         else:
             ui.warn(_("abort: %s\n") % inst.strerror)
     except util.UnexpectedOutput, inst:
-        ui.warn(_("abort: %s") % inst[0])
-        if not isinstance(inst[1], basestring):
-            ui.warn(" %r\n" % (inst[1],))
-        elif not inst[1]:
+        ui.warn(_("abort: %s") % inst.args[0])
+        if not isinstance(inst.args[1], basestring):
+            ui.warn(" %r\n" % (inst.args[1],))
+        elif not inst.args[1]:
             ui.warn(_(" empty string\n"))
         else:
-            ui.warn("\n%r\n" % util.ellipsis(inst[1]))
+            ui.warn("\n%r\n" % util.ellipsis(inst.args[1]))
     except ImportError, inst:
         m = str(inst).split()[-1]
         ui.warn(_("abort: could not import module %s!\n") % m)