diff --git a/litellm/llms/openai/openai.py b/litellm/llms/openai/openai.py
index 13412ef96a..af6966f5f2 100644
--- a/litellm/llms/openai/openai.py
+++ b/litellm/llms/openai/openai.py
@@ -732,6 +732,8 @@ class OpenAIChatCompletion(BaseLLM, BaseOpenAILLM):
             error_body = getattr(e, "body", None)
             if error_headers is None and error_response:
                 error_headers = getattr(error_response, "headers", None)
+            if not error_text:
+                error_text = getattr(e, "message", str(e))
             raise OpenAIError(
                 status_code=status_code,
                 message=error_text,