diff --git a/django/db/utils.py b/django/db/utils.py
index 83e2452546..fe5d7944aa 100644
--- a/django/db/utils.py
+++ b/django/db/utils.py
@@ -95,11 +95,12 @@ class ConnectionRouter(object):
                 try:
                     module_name, klass_name = r.rsplit('.', 1)
                     module = import_module(module_name)
-                    router = getattr(module, klass_name)()
                 except ImportError, e:
                     raise ImproperlyConfigured('Error importing database router %s: "%s"' % (klass_name, e))
+                try:
+                    router = getattr(module, klass_name)()
                 except AttributeError:
-                    raise ImproperlyConfigured('Module "%s" does not define a "%s" database router' % (module, klass_name))
+                    raise ImproperlyConfigured('Module "%s" does not define a database router name "%s"' % (module, klass_name))
             else:
                 router = r
             self.routers.append(router)