diff --git a/Lib/shutil.py b/Lib/shutil.py
index b0576407e02ffb..389c8d6c9c20e1 100644
--- a/Lib/shutil.py
+++ b/Lib/shutil.py
@@ -501,7 +501,11 @@ def _copytree(entries, src, dst, symlinks, ignore, copy_function,
         # catch the Error from the recursive copytree so that we can
         # continue with other files
         except Error as err:
-            errors.extend(err.args[0])
+            if isinstance(err.args[0], list):
+                # this is a recursive error
+                errors.extend(err.args[0])
+            else:
+                errors.append((srcname, dstname, str(err)))
         except OSError as why:
             errors.append((srcname, dstname, str(why)))
     try: