diff --git a/lib/net.js b/lib/net.js
index 61b103a85da..d6e3d5adae1 100644
--- a/lib/net.js
+++ b/lib/net.js
@@ -926,8 +926,9 @@ function listen(self, address, port, addressType, backlog, fd) {
   if (!self._handle) {
     self._handle = createServerHandle(address, port, addressType, fd);
     if (!self._handle) {
+      var error = errnoException(errno, 'listen');
       process.nextTick(function() {
-        self.emit('error', errnoException(errno, 'listen'));
+        self.emit('error', error);
       });
       return;
     }