diff --git a/gallery_dl/downloader/ytdl.py b/gallery_dl/downloader/ytdl.py
index 87e77562..b3bec210 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/downloader/ytdl.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/downloader/ytdl.py
@@ -42,8 +42,9 @@ class YoutubeDLDownloader(DownloaderBase):
             if not ytdl_instance:
                 try:
                     module = ytdl.import_module(self.config("module"))
-                except ImportError as exc:
-                    self.log.error("Cannot import module '%s'", exc.name)
+                except (ImportError, SyntaxError) as exc:
+                    self.log.error("Cannot import module '%s'",
+                                   getattr(exc, "name", ""))
                     self.log.debug("", exc_info=True)
                     self.download = lambda u, p: False
                     return False
diff --git a/gallery_dl/ytdl.py b/gallery_dl/ytdl.py
index d4fdedc4..fe88c2cb 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/ytdl.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/ytdl.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ def import_module(module_name):
     if module_name is None:
         try:
             return __import__("yt_dlp")
-        except ImportError:
+        except (ImportError, SyntaxError):
             return __import__("youtube_dl")
     return __import__(module_name.replace("-", "_"))
 
diff --git a/test/test_ytdl.py b/test/test_ytdl.py
index fd2e40a8..f7eb6712 100644
--- a/test/test_ytdl.py
+++ b/test/test_ytdl.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class Test_CommandlineArguments(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUpClass(cls):
         try:
             cls.module = __import__(cls.module_name)
-        except ImportError:
+        except (ImportError, SyntaxError):
             raise unittest.SkipTest("cannot import module '{}'".format(
                 cls.module_name))
         cls.default = ytdl.parse_command_line(cls.module, [])