diff --git a/ChangeLog.txt b/ChangeLog.txt
index 7ddccb83..ab57c1a8 100644
--- a/ChangeLog.txt
+++ b/ChangeLog.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+v1.6.1 - 2021-10-21
+===================
+
+- Fix Python 2.7 compatilibity.
+
+
 v1.6.0 - 2021-10-20
 ===================
 
diff --git a/src/paho/mqtt/__init__.py b/src/paho/mqtt/__init__.py
index 425488c9..0d349fc3 100644
--- a/src/paho/mqtt/__init__.py
+++ b/src/paho/mqtt/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-__version__ = "1.6.0"
+__version__ = "1.6.1"
 
 
 class MQTTException(Exception):
diff --git a/src/paho/mqtt/client.py b/src/paho/mqtt/client.py
index 366bcb8c..1c0236e4 100644
--- a/src/paho/mqtt/client.py
+++ b/src/paho/mqtt/client.py
@@ -81,6 +81,12 @@
 else:
     EAGAIN = errno.EAGAIN
 
+# Python 2.7 does not have BlockingIOError.  Fall back to IOError
+try:
+    BlockingIOError
+except NameError:
+    BlockingIOError  = IOError
+
 MQTTv31 = 3
 MQTTv311 = 4
 MQTTv5 = 5