diff --git a/Lib/test/test_urllib2.py b/Lib/test/test_urllib2.py
index ccd5419b709e..3377cffcba21 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_urllib2.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_urllib2.py
@@ -64,6 +64,9 @@ def test_parse_http_list(self):
         for string, list in tests:
             self.assertEqual(urllib.request.parse_http_list(string), list)
 
+    def test_URLError_reasonstr(self):
+        err = urllib.error.URLError('reason')
+        self.assertIn(err.reason, str(err))
 
 def test_request_headers_dict():
     """