diff --git a/lib/ansible/runner/connection.py b/lib/ansible/runner/connection.py
index e0bada9eadb..bb50bf5531f 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/runner/connection.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/runner/connection.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 import os
 import stat
+import errno
 
 from ansible import utils
 from ansible.errors import AnsibleError
@@ -36,15 +37,14 @@ class Connector(object):
             raise AnsibleError("unsupported connection type: %s" % transport)
         if private_key_file:
             # If private key is readable by user other than owner, flag an error
+            st = None
             try:
                 st = os.stat(private_key_file)
-            except IOError, e:
-                if e.errno == errno.ENOENT: # file is missing, might be agent
-                    st = { 'st_mode': False }
-                else:
+            except (IOError, OSError), e:
+                if e.errno != errno.ENOENT: # file is missing, might be agent
                     raise(e)
 
-            if st.st_mode & (stat.S_IRGRP | stat.S_IROTH):
+            if st is not None and st.st_mode & (stat.S_IRGRP | stat.S_IROTH):
                 raise AnsibleError("private_key_file (%s) is group-readable or world-readable and thus insecure - "
                                    "you will probably get an SSH failure"
                                    % (private_key_file,))