diff --git a/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py b/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py
index 229590664c9..ade95be229e 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/command/build_ext.py
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ class build_ext(Command):
         for ext in self.extensions:
             try:
                 self.build_extension(ext)
-            except (CCompilerError, DistutilsError) as e:
+            except (CCompilerError, DistutilsError, CompileError) as e:
                 if not ext.optional:
                     raise
                 self.warn('building extension "%s" failed: %s' %
diff --git a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_build_ext.py b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_build_ext.py
index 094f4b6644c..5ea67bedb76 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/tests/test_build_ext.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/tests/test_build_ext.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ from distutils.tests.support import TempdirManager
 from distutils.tests.support import LoggingSilencer
 from distutils.extension import Extension
 from distutils.errors import UnknownFileError
+from distutils.errors import CompileError
 
 import unittest
 from test import support
@@ -154,7 +155,8 @@ class BuildExtTestCase(TempdirManager,
         dist = Distribution({'name': 'xx', 'ext_modules': modules})
         cmd = build_ext(dist)
         cmd.ensure_finalized()
-        self.assertRaises(UnknownFileError, cmd.run)  # should raise an error
+        self.assertRaises((UnknownFileError, CompileError),
+                          cmd.run)  # should raise an error
 
         modules = [Extension('foo', ['xxx'], optional=True)]
         dist = Distribution({'name': 'xx', 'ext_modules': modules})