diff --git a/cclint b/cclint
index 1e800b6..7168021 100755
--- a/cclint
+++ b/cclint
@@ -44,10 +44,15 @@ def main(files=[]):
                         raise AssertionError
 
                     for attr in ['localdir','remotedir','desturl']:
-                        are = re.match(MIRRORREGEX, se._asdict()[attr]).groupdict()
-                        if are['centosversion'] != gs['centosversion']:
-                            msg = 'version location of {0} does not match the CentOS Version of the CBS tag'.format(attr)
-                            raise AssertionError
+                            match = re.match(MIRRORREGEX, se._asdict()[attr])
+                            if not match:
+                                msg = 'Malformed directory: {}\n {} does not match pattern: {}'.format(se._asdict()[attr], attr, MIRRORREGEX)
+                                raise AssertionError
+                            are = match.groupdict()
+
+                            if are['centosversion'] != gs['centosversion']:
+                                msg = 'version location of {0} does not match the CentOS Version of the CBS tag'.format(attr)
+                                raise AssertionError
 
                 except AttributeError, e:
                     msg = 'bad cbs tag!'