diff --git a/lib/6to5/util.js b/lib/6to5/util.js
index 49faad6ce7..6e93d50c41 100644
--- a/lib/6to5/util.js
+++ b/lib/6to5/util.js
@@ -221,8 +221,9 @@ exports.parse = function (opts, code, callback) {
       err._6to5 = true;
       var message = opts.filename + ": " + err.message;
 
-      if (err.loc) {
-        var frame = exports.codeFrame(code, err.loc.line, err.loc.column);
+      var loc = err.loc;
+      if (loc) {
+        var frame = exports.codeFrame(code, loc.line, loc.column);
         message += frame;
       }