diff --git a/src/org/jruby/RubyClass.java b/src/org/jruby/RubyClass.java
index 3e92d114d65..e795442318f 100644
--- a/src/org/jruby/RubyClass.java
+++ b/src/org/jruby/RubyClass.java
@@ -633,6 +633,8 @@ public IRubyObject finvokeChecked(ThreadContext context, IRubyObject self, Strin
                     if(self.respondsTo(name)) {
                         throw e;
                     } else {
+                        // we swallow, so we also must clear $!
+                        context.setErrorInfo(context.nil);
                         return null;
                     }
                 } else {