diff --git a/lib/ansible/module_utils/network/iosxr/iosxr.py b/lib/ansible/module_utils/network/iosxr/iosxr.py
index 2d8cd092c5..6889e86eea 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/module_utils/network/iosxr/iosxr.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/module_utils/network/iosxr/iosxr.py
@@ -410,7 +410,7 @@ def load_config(module, command_filter, commit=False, replace=False,
 
         try:
             conn.edit_config(cmd_filter)
-        except ConnectionError:
+        except ConnectionError as exc:
             module.fail_json(msg=to_text(exc))
 
         if module._diff: