diff --git a/lib/controller/checks.py b/lib/controller/checks.py
index 576d20a0f..f4c053ec9 100644
--- a/lib/controller/checks.py
+++ b/lib/controller/checks.py
@@ -1298,7 +1298,7 @@ def checkConnection(suppressOutput=False):
             raise SqlmapConnectionException(errMsg)
         except socket.error, ex:
             errMsg = "problem occurred while "
-            errMsg += "resolving a host name '%s' ('%s')" % (conf.hostname, getUnicode(ex))
+            errMsg += "resolving a host name '%s' ('%s')" % (conf.hostname, ex.message)
             raise SqlmapConnectionException(errMsg)
 
     if not suppressOutput and not conf.dummy and not conf.offline:
diff --git a/lib/core/common.py b/lib/core/common.py
index 5b914b159..6f9303876 100755
--- a/lib/core/common.py
+++ b/lib/core/common.py
@@ -876,7 +876,7 @@ def dataToOutFile(filename, data):
                 f.write(data)
         except IOError, ex:
             errMsg = "something went wrong while trying to write "
-            errMsg += "to the output file ('%s')" % getUnicode(ex)
+            errMsg += "to the output file ('%s')" % ex.message
             raise SqlmapGenericException(errMsg)
 
     return retVal
@@ -3662,7 +3662,7 @@ def evaluateCode(code, variables=None):
     except KeyboardInterrupt:
         raise
     except Exception, ex:
-        errMsg = "an error occurred while evaluating provided code ('%s') " % getUnicode(ex)
+        errMsg = "an error occurred while evaluating provided code ('%s') " % ex.message
         raise SqlmapGenericException(errMsg)
 
 def serializeObject(object_):
diff --git a/lib/core/dump.py b/lib/core/dump.py
index 08410602d..4401f1742 100644
--- a/lib/core/dump.py
+++ b/lib/core/dump.py
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ class Dump(object):
         try:
             self._outputFP.write(text)
         except IOError, ex:
-            errMsg = "error occurred while writing to log file ('%s')" % getUnicode(ex)
+            errMsg = "error occurred while writing to log file ('%s')" % ex.message
             raise SqlmapGenericException(errMsg)
 
         if kb.get("multiThreadMode"):
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ class Dump(object):
         try:
             self._outputFP = openFile(self._outputFile, "ab" if not conf.flushSession else "wb")
         except IOError, ex:
-            errMsg = "error occurred while opening log file ('%s')" % getUnicode(ex)
+            errMsg = "error occurred while opening log file ('%s')" % ex.message
             raise SqlmapGenericException(errMsg)
 
     def getOutputFile(self):
diff --git a/lib/core/option.py b/lib/core/option.py
index f5edb95b4..896446cd0 100644
--- a/lib/core/option.py
+++ b/lib/core/option.py
@@ -1521,7 +1521,7 @@ def _createTemporaryDirectory():
             os.makedirs(tempfile.gettempdir())
     except IOError, ex:
         errMsg = "there has been a problem while accessing "
-        errMsg += "system's temporary directory location(s) ('%s'). Please " % getUnicode(ex)
+        errMsg += "system's temporary directory location(s) ('%s'). Please " % ex.message
         errMsg += "make sure that there is enough disk space left. If problem persists, "
         errMsg += "try to set environment variable 'TEMP' to a location "
         errMsg += "writeable by the current user"
diff --git a/lib/parse/cmdline.py b/lib/parse/cmdline.py
index ef2f535f7..154c5d7e3 100644
--- a/lib/parse/cmdline.py
+++ b/lib/parse/cmdline.py
@@ -862,7 +862,7 @@ def cmdLineParser():
                 for arg in shlex.split(command):
                     argv.append(getUnicode(arg, encoding=sys.stdin.encoding))
             except ValueError, ex:
-                raise SqlmapSyntaxException, "something went wrong during command line parsing ('%s')" % getUnicode(ex)
+                raise SqlmapSyntaxException, "something went wrong during command line parsing ('%s')" % ex.message
 
         # Hide non-basic options in basic help case
         for i in xrange(len(argv)):
diff --git a/lib/parse/configfile.py b/lib/parse/configfile.py
index 653faefbc..507cce17b 100644
--- a/lib/parse/configfile.py
+++ b/lib/parse/configfile.py
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ def configFileParser(configFile):
         config = UnicodeRawConfigParser()
         config.readfp(configFP)
     except Exception, ex:
-        errMsg = "you have provided an invalid and/or unreadable configuration file ('%s')" % getUnicode(ex)
+        errMsg = "you have provided an invalid and/or unreadable configuration file ('%s')" % ex.message
         raise SqlmapSyntaxException(errMsg)
 
     if not config.has_section("Target"):
diff --git a/lib/utils/hash.py b/lib/utils/hash.py
index b1459b032..69994d23e 100644
--- a/lib/utils/hash.py
+++ b/lib/utils/hash.py
@@ -770,7 +770,7 @@ def dictionaryAttack(attack_dict):
 
                 except Exception, ex:
                     warnMsg = "there was a problem while loading dictionaries"
-                    warnMsg += " ('%s')" % getUnicode(ex)
+                    warnMsg += " ('%s')" % ex.message
                     logger.critical(warnMsg)
 
             message = "do you want to use common password suffixes? (slow!) [y/N] "
diff --git a/plugins/generic/entries.py b/plugins/generic/entries.py
index 598bf3a01..125aa8226 100644
--- a/plugins/generic/entries.py
+++ b/plugins/generic/entries.py
@@ -341,13 +341,13 @@ class Entries:
                         attackDumpedTable()
                     except (IOError, OSError), ex:
                         errMsg = "an error occurred while attacking "
-                        errMsg += "table dump ('%s')" % getUnicode(ex)
+                        errMsg += "table dump ('%s')" % ex.message
                         logger.critical(errMsg)
                     conf.dumper.dbTableValues(kb.data.dumpedTable)
 
             except SqlmapConnectionException, ex:
                 errMsg = "connection exception detected in dumping phase "
-                errMsg += "('%s')" % getUnicode(ex)
+                errMsg += "('%s')" % ex.message
                 logger.critical(errMsg)
 
             finally: