diff --git a/simplemediawiki.py b/simplemediawiki.py
index b7591d1..6726bb9 100644
--- a/simplemediawiki.py
+++ b/simplemediawiki.py
@@ -103,13 +103,13 @@ def __init__(self, api_url, cookie_file=None, cookiejar=None,
         self._api_url = api_url
         self._http_user = http_user
         self._http_password = http_password
-        if cookiejar:
+        if cookiejar is not None:
             self._cj = cookiejar
-        elif cookie_file:
+        elif cookie_file is not None:
             self._cj = cookielib.LWPCookieJar(cookie_file)
             try:
                 self._cj.load()
-            except IOError:
+            except cookielib.LoadError:
                 self._cj.save()
                 self._cj.load()
         else: