diff --git a/barbicanclient/base.py b/barbicanclient/base.py
index 168ece12..738526bb 100644
--- a/barbicanclient/base.py
+++ b/barbicanclient/base.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ def validate_ref(ref, entity):
     try:
         _, entity_uuid = ref.rstrip('/').rsplit('/', 1)
         uuid.UUID(entity_uuid)
-    except:
+    except Exception:
         raise ValueError('{0} incorrectly specified.'.format(entity))
 
     return True
diff --git a/barbicanclient/tests/keystone_client_fixtures.py b/barbicanclient/tests/keystone_client_fixtures.py
index eb3de381..202bedd0 100644
--- a/barbicanclient/tests/keystone_client_fixtures.py
+++ b/barbicanclient/tests/keystone_client_fixtures.py
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ class KeystoneClientFixture(testtools.TestCase):
 
         try:
             self.barbican.run(argv=argv)
-        except:
+        except Exception:
             self.fail('failed to delete secret')
 
     def test_v2_auth(self):