Index: trunk/buildbot/changes/svnpoller.py
===================================================================
--- trunk/buildbot/changes/svnpoller.py
+++ trunk/buildbot/changes/svnpoller.py	(working copy)
@@ -365,8 +365,11 @@


     def _get_text(self, element, tag_name):
-        child_nodes = element.getElementsByTagName(tag_name)[0].childNodes
-        text = "".join([t.data for t in child_nodes])
+        try:
+            child_nodes = element.getElementsByTagName(tag_name)[0].childNodes
+            text = "".join([t.data for t in child_nodes])
+        except:
+            text = "<unknown>"
         return text

     def _transform_path(self, path):