diff --git a/howdoi/howdoi.py b/howdoi/howdoi.py
index f011bbdd1..653bf2bb9 100755
--- a/howdoi/howdoi.py
+++ b/howdoi/howdoi.py
@@ -129,7 +129,10 @@ def format_output(code, args):
 
     # no lexer found above, use the guesser
     if not lexer:
-        lexer = guess_lexer(code)
+        try:
+            lexer = guess_lexer(code)
+        except ClassNotFound:
+            return code
 
     return highlight(code,
                      lexer,