diff --git a/spyderlib/widgets/variableexplorer/utils.py b/spyderlib/widgets/variableexplorer/utils.py
index 4116ef6ff6a..9f450d92c60 100644
--- a/spyderlib/widgets/variableexplorer/utils.py
+++ b/spyderlib/widgets/variableexplorer/utils.py
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ def get_numpy_dtype(obj):
 try:
     import bs4
     NavigableString = bs4.element.NavigableString
-except ImportError:
+except (ImportError, AttributeError):
     NavigableString = FakeObject  # analysis:ignore