diff --git a/lib/dns.js b/lib/dns.js
index cb8b2ca0beb..fdfcec2e7ee 100644
--- a/lib/dns.js
+++ b/lib/dns.js
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ function resolver(bindingName) {
     req.oncomplete = onresolve;
     req.ttl = !!(options && options.ttl);
     var err = this._handle[bindingName](req, name);
-    if (err) throw dnsException(err, bindingName);
+    if (err) throw dnsException(err, bindingName, name);
     return req;
   }
   Object.defineProperty(query, 'name', { value: bindingName });
diff --git a/lib/internal/errors.js b/lib/internal/errors.js
index 3e940c84968..2fe081bda74 100644
--- a/lib/internal/errors.js
+++ b/lib/internal/errors.js
@@ -556,20 +556,20 @@ function exceptionWithHostPort(err, syscall, address, port, additional) {
  * @returns {Error}
  */
 function dnsException(code, syscall, hostname) {
-  let message;
-  // FIXME(bnoordhuis) Remove this backwards compatibility nonsense and pass
-  // the true error to the user. ENOTFOUND is not even a proper POSIX error!
-  if (code === UV_EAI_MEMORY ||
-      code === UV_EAI_NODATA ||
-      code === UV_EAI_NONAME) {
-    code = 'ENOTFOUND'; // Fabricated error name.
-  }
-  if (typeof code === 'string') { // c-ares error code.
-    message = `${syscall} ${code}${hostname ? ` ${hostname}` : ''}`;
-  } else {  // libuv error number
-    code = lazyInternalUtil().getSystemErrorName(code);
-    message = `${syscall} ${code}`;
+  // If `code` is of type number, it is a libuv error number, else it is a
+  // c-ares error code.
+  if (typeof code === 'number') {
+    // FIXME(bnoordhuis) Remove this backwards compatibility nonsense and pass
+    // the true error to the user. ENOTFOUND is not even a proper POSIX error!
+    if (code === UV_EAI_MEMORY ||
+        code === UV_EAI_NODATA ||
+        code === UV_EAI_NONAME) {
+      code = 'ENOTFOUND'; // Fabricated error name.
+    } else {
+      code = lazyInternalUtil().getSystemErrorName(code);
+    }
   }
+  const message = `${syscall} ${code}${hostname ? ` ${hostname}` : ''}`;
   // eslint-disable-next-line no-restricted-syntax
   const ex = new Error(message);
   // TODO(joyeecheung): errno is supposed to be a number / err, like in