diff --git a/common/clients.py b/common/clients.py
index cff3bf2..85bfea5 100644
--- a/common/clients.py
+++ b/common/clients.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 from ceilometerclient import client as ceilometer_client
 from cinderclient import client as cinder_client
+from heat.common.i18n import _
 from heatclient import client as heat_client
 from keystoneclient.auth.identity.generic import password
 from keystoneclient import exceptions as kc_exceptions
@@ -71,8 +72,13 @@
 
     def __init__(self, conf):
         self.conf = conf
-        self.v2_auth_url = self.conf.auth_url.replace('/v3', '/v2.0')
-        self.auth_version = self.conf.auth_url.split('/v')[1]
+        if self.conf.auth_url.find('/v'):
+            self.v2_auth_url = self.conf.auth_url.replace('/v3', '/v2.0')
+            self.auth_version = self.conf.auth_url.split('/v')[1]
+        else:
+            raise ValueError(_('Incorrectly specified auth_url config: no '
+                               'version found.'))
+
         self.identity_client = self._get_identity_client()
         self.orchestration_client = self._get_orchestration_client()
         self.compute_client = self._get_compute_client()