diff --git a/Lib/distutils/msvc9compiler.py b/Lib/distutils/msvc9compiler.py
index 804f1751ceb..4f72e78096b 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/msvc9compiler.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/msvc9compiler.py
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ class MSVCCompiler(CCompiler) :
         self.__version = VERSION
         self.__root = r"Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio"
         # self.__macros = MACROS
-        self.__path = []
+        self.__paths = []
         # target platform (.plat_name is consistent with 'bdist')
         self.plat_name = None
         self.__arch = None # deprecated name
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 0e2c036c8ee..0ec79ff536f 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #3741: DISTUTILS_USE_SDK set causes msvc9compiler.py to raise an
+  exception.
+
 - Issue #4363: The uuid.uuid1() and uuid.uuid4() functions now work even if
   the ctypes module is not present.