2 files changed, 6 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Lib/shelve.py b/Lib/shelve.py
index 4959c26..7a75445 100644
--- a/Lib/shelve.py
+++ b/Lib/shelve.py
@@ -139,6 +139,9 @@ class Shelf(UserDict.DictMixin):
         self.dict = 0
 
     def __del__(self):
+        if not hasattr(self, 'writeback'):
+            # __init__ didn't succeed, so don't bother closing
+            return
         self.close()
 
     def sync(self):
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 3dbecd7..630d36b 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -156,6 +156,9 @@ Extension Modules
 Library
 -------
 
+- Bug #1339007: Shelf objects now don't raise an exception in their
+  __del__ method when initialization failed.
+
 - Patch #1455898: The MBCS codec now supports the incremental mode for
   double-byte encodings.