diff --git a/telegram/utils/request.py b/telegram/utils/request.py
index 63059a704..e5493f00b 100644
--- a/telegram/utils/request.py
+++ b/telegram/utils/request.py
@@ -25,6 +25,13 @@ import json
 import socket
 from ssl import SSLError
 
+try:
+    # python2
+    from httplib import HTTPException
+except ImportError:
+    # python3
+    from http.client import HTTPException
+
 try:
     from urllib.request import urlopen, urlretrieve, Request
     from urllib.error import HTTPError
@@ -82,6 +89,8 @@ def _try_except_req(func):
                 raise TelegramError("Timed out")
 
             raise TelegramError(str(error))
+        except HTTPException as error:
+            raise TelegramError('HTTPException: {0!r}'.format(error))
 
     return decorator