diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 641bbf708..9d8202e63 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ Changes between 2.3.4 and 2.3.5dev
 - improve PYTEST_DEBUG tracing output by puting
   extra data on a new lines with additional indent
 
+- ensure OutcomeExceptions like skip/fail have initialized exception attributes
+
 Changes between 2.3.3 and 2.3.4
 -----------------------------------
 
diff --git a/_pytest/runner.py b/_pytest/runner.py
index 01e6a4840..24abfb76b 100644
--- a/_pytest/runner.py
+++ b/_pytest/runner.py
@@ -364,6 +364,7 @@ class OutcomeException(Exception):
         contain info about test and collection outcomes.
     """
     def __init__(self, msg=None, pytrace=True):
+        super(OutcomeException, self).__init__(msg)
         self.msg = msg
         self.pytrace = pytrace
 
diff --git a/testing/test_runner.py b/testing/test_runner.py
index 54009f066..25e3df28a 100644
--- a/testing/test_runner.py
+++ b/testing/test_runner.py
@@ -378,6 +378,10 @@ def test_runtest_in_module_ordering(testdir):
     ])
 
 
+def test_outcomeexception_exceptionattributes():
+    outcome = runner.OutcomeException('test')
+    assert outcome.message == outcome.msg
+
 def test_pytest_exit():
     try:
         py.test.exit("hello")