bzr+ssh: checkout spews traceback if SSH connection fails

Binary package hint: bzr

22:49:02@lpsrc> bzr checkout --lightweight bzr+ssh://[...]/[...]
ssh: chinstrap.ubuntu.com: Name or service not known
ssh_exchange_identification: Connection closed by remote host
bzr: ERROR: exceptions.AssertionError: end of file reading from server.

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/bzrlib/commands.py", line 817, in run_bzr_catch_errors
    return run_bzr(argv)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/bzrlib/commands.py", line 779, in run_bzr
    ret = run(*run_argv)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/bzrlib/commands.py", line 477, in run_argv_aliases
    return self.run(**all_cmd_args)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/bzrlib/builtins.py", line 943, in run
    source = Branch.open(branch_location)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/bzrlib/branch.py", line 131, in open
    control = bzrdir.BzrDir.open(base, _unsupported)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/bzrlib/bzrdir.py", line 531, in open
    return BzrDir.open_from_transport(t, _unsupported=_unsupported)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/bzrlib/bzrdir.py", line 568, in open_from_transport
    redirected)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/bzrlib/lazy_import.py", line 116, in __call__
    return obj(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/bzrlib/transport/__init__.py", line 1505, in do_catching_redirections
    return action(transport)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/bzrlib/bzrdir.py", line 545, in find_format
    transport, _server_formats=_server_formats)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/bzrlib/bzrdir.py", line 1249, in find_format
    return format.probe_transport(transport)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/bzrlib/bzrdir.py", line 2218, in probe_transport
    server_version = smart_protocol.query_version()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/bzrlib/smart/protocol.py", line 409, in query_version
    resp = self.read_response_tuple()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/bzrlib/smart/protocol.py", line 357, in read_response_tuple
    result = self._recv_tuple()
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/bzrlib/smart/protocol.py", line 394, in _recv_tuple
    return _decode_tuple(self._recv_line())
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/bzrlib/smart/protocol.py", line 403, in _recv_line
    assert new_char != '', "end of file reading from server."
AssertionError: end of file reading from server.

bzr 0.90.0 on python 2.5.1.final.0 (linux2)
arguments: ['/usr/bin/bzr', 'checkout', '--lightweight', 'bzr+ssh://[...]/[...]']

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