diff --git a/mozilla/toolkit/mozapps/extensions/src/nsExtensionManager.js.in b/mozilla/toolkit/mozapps/extensions/src/nsExtensionManager.js.in
index cbf8500016e..73b962a41f4 100644
--- a/mozilla/toolkit/mozapps/extensions/src/nsExtensionManager.js.in
+++ b/mozilla/toolkit/mozapps/extensions/src/nsExtensionManager.js.in
@@ -6181,9 +6181,13 @@ RDFItemUpdater.prototype = {
       request = aEvent.target.channel.QueryInterface(Components.interfaces.nsIRequest);
       status = request.status;
     }
-
-    var statusText = request.statusText;
-
+    // this can fail when a network connection is not present.
+    try {
+      var statusText = request.statusText;
+    }
+    catch (e) {
+      status = 0;
+    }
     // When status is 0 we don't have a valid channel.
     if (status == 0)
       statusText = "nsIXMLHttpRequest channel unavailable";