--- a/config/mozunit.py
+++ b/config/mozunit.py
@@ -68,17 +68,17 @@ class _MozTestResult(_TestResult):
     def addFailure(self, test, err):
         _TestResult.addFailure(self, test, err)
         self.printFail(test,err)
         self.stream.writeln("FAIL: {0}".format(self.getDescription(test)))
         self.stream.writeln(self.failures[-1][1])
 
     def printFail(self, test, err):
         exctype, value, tb = err
-        message = value.message.splitlines()[0]
+        message = value.message.splitlines()[0] if value.message else 'NO MESSAGE'
         # Skip test runner traceback levels
         while tb and self._is_relevant_tb_level(tb):
             tb = tb.tb_next
         if tb:
             _, ln, _ = inspect.getframeinfo(tb)[:3]
             message = 'line {0}: {1}'.format(ln, message)
         self.printStatus("TEST-UNEXPECTED-FAIL", test, message)