diff --git a/include/pybind11/cast.h b/include/pybind11/cast.h
index 8ff1871e7..d6af10ed8 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/cast.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/cast.h
@@ -415,8 +415,8 @@ PYBIND11_NOINLINE inline std::string error_string(PyObject *type, PyObject *valu
     if (value)
         result += str(value).cast<std::string>();
 
-#if !defined(PYPY_VERSION)
     if (trace) {
+#if !defined(PYPY_VERSION)
         PyTracebackObject *tb = (PyTracebackObject *) trace;
 
         // Get the deepest trace possible.
@@ -433,8 +433,8 @@ PYBIND11_NOINLINE inline std::string error_string(PyObject *type, PyObject *valu
                 handle(frame->f_code->co_name).cast<std::string>() + "\n";
             frame = frame->f_back;
         }
-    }
 #endif
+    }
 
     return result;
 }
diff --git a/include/pybind11/pytypes.h b/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
index 2945d9133..df0cc70df 100644
--- a/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
+++ b/include/pybind11/pytypes.h
@@ -335,8 +335,10 @@ public:
 
     virtual const char* what() const noexcept override {
         if (m_lazy_what.empty()) {
-            try {
+            if (m_type)
                 PyErr_NormalizeException(&m_type.ptr(), &m_value.ptr(), &m_trace.ptr());
+
+            try {
                 m_lazy_what = detail::error_string(m_type.ptr(), m_value.ptr(), m_trace.ptr());
             } catch (...) {
                 return "Unknown internal error occurred";