diff --git a/helpers/etcd.py b/helpers/etcd.py
index 495046f1..3385fbe6 100644
--- a/helpers/etcd.py
+++ b/helpers/etcd.py
@@ -121,11 +121,17 @@ class Client:
 
         response, status_code = self._get('/members')
         if status_code != 200:
+            self._base_uri = None
             raise EtcdError('Got response with code=%s from %s' % (status_code, self._base_uri))
 
         members_cache = []
-        for member in response if load_from_srv else response['members']:
-            members_cache.extend([m + '/' + self.API_VERSION for m in member['clientURLs']])
+        try:
+            for member in response if load_from_srv else response['members']:
+                members_cache.extend([m + '/' + self.API_VERSION for m in member['clientURLs']])
+        except:
+            self._base_uri = None
+            raise EtcdError('Got invalid response from %s: %s' % (self._base_uri, response))
+
         self._members_cache = list(set(members_cache))
         random.shuffle(self._members_cache)
         if load_from_srv:
diff --git a/tests/test_etcd.py b/tests/test_etcd.py
index dca856cb..9f87b96d 100644
--- a/tests/test_etcd.py
+++ b/tests/test_etcd.py
@@ -37,7 +37,10 @@ def requests_get(url, **kwargs):
         if url.startswith('http://error'):
             response.status_code = 404
     elif url.endswith('/members'):
-        response.content = members
+        if url.startswith('http://error'):
+            response.content = '[{}]'
+        else:
+            response.content = members
     elif url.endswith('/bad_response'):
         response.content = '{'
     elif url.startswith('http://local'):
@@ -138,6 +141,8 @@ class TestClient(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_load_members(self):
         self.client._base_uri = self.client._base_uri.replace('localhost', 'error_code')
         self.assertRaises(EtcdError, self.client.load_members)
+        self.client._base_uri = 'http://error_code:2380'
+        self.assertRaises(EtcdError, self.client.load_members)
         self.client._base_uri = None
         self.client._config = {}
         self.assertRaises(Exception, self.client.load_members)