diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/71704_selector.yml b/changelogs/fragments/71704_selector.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0ad93284f83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/71704_selector.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+bugfixes:
+- basic - handle exceptions for default selectors in Python 2.7 (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/71704).
diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
index 00a04bf9048..1d03d5a2092 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/basic.py
@@ -2712,7 +2712,7 @@ class AnsibleModule(object):
             stderr = b''
             try:
                 selector = selectors.DefaultSelector()
-            except OSError:
+            except (IOError, OSError):
                 # Failed to detect default selector for the given platform
                 # Select PollSelector which is supported by major platforms
                 selector = selectors.PollSelector()